


Wendy and the Pink Rabbit

by douxpink



Category: K-pop, Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Attempt at Humor, Blood and Gore, Blood and Torture, Chief Jisung isn't Jisung from NCT I'm sorry I didn't know what to name that character, Detective Lee Jong Suk is a poopy bitch, Dismemberment, Drama, Eventual Wenrene, Everyone is low-key crazy, F/F, Forensics, I'm bad at uploading, Irene is soft for Wendy, Joy helps Irene with her "hobby", Lesbian Irene, Lesbian Wendy, Seulgi works at a coffee shop, Texting, Wendy is soft, Yeri takes summer classes at a university lol I never explained that, at times I throw in random idols because why not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-05-13 08:18:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 48,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14745240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/douxpink/pseuds/douxpink
Summary: Irene is a seductive and precise serial killer who only kills men, and Wendy is a shy, intelligent young blood spatter analyst. One day Wendy is assigned to a case involving one of Irene’s victims.MATURE CONTENT WARNING: This work contains scenes of murder, dismemberment, blood, and other dark content. If any of these things bother you, read at your own discretion.





	1. irene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!TRIGGER WARNING/MATURE CONTENT FOLLOWS!!!

Cleaning off her knife was both Irene’s least and favorite part of the kill.

Sometimes she’d lick the blade clean, other times she’d wipe it off on the bare chest of her victim. She loved a clean blade, but she equally loved a messy one. A dirty blade meant fun, while a clean blade meant that the fun was over. For now.

She still felt content when it was “over”, though, since that meant her work was done and another disgusting pig of a man was dead. Irene loved that feeling. She loved that the fun didn’t stop after just one victim. She loved that, as long as there were men in the world, she would be able to have as much fun as she desired.

Irene really couldn’t help but smile everytime she thought about that.

 

* * *

 

Irene despised men.

They were the greedy, cheating scum of the earth and she hated them all. She had hated men ever since she could remember. She hated her father for what he did to her mother, she hated her first boyfriend for what he did to her when she was only 14, and she hated every single man who would cat call her anytime she was walking on the street alone.

Men. They’re how Irene’s little ‘habit’ started a few years back.

One day she’d just snapped and realized that she’d had enough of feeling like the inferior sex. She wasn’t going to stand being treated like an object anymore. She was going to be the one in control now.

The first time Irene took away a life with her own hands, she felt like a God.

She didn’t expect it to feel so good but it did. It flooded her senses and made her feel more aroused than she ever thought possible. Watching the life escape from the eyes of her victim felt poetic. Seeing their feeble attempts to claw their way from out of her grasp made her feel so powerful. It was the best fucking feeling. Way better than having sex with a man, but almost as good as having sex with a woman. She was doing God’s work now, and doing it better than Him.

 

After she’d experienced that sensation of being fully in control, Irene just couldn’t stop once she started.

They couldn't hit her, or yell at her, or touch her with their grimy hands once they were dead. And Irene loved it.

The best feeling was when they’d plead for her to stop and beg for her to spare them. She’d laugh every time and then shove the knife deeper into their chest, watching the blood gurgle up from their mouth and flood towards the floor in methodical drips.

Of course Irene had learned a few skills and tips of the trade throughout the years so she knew exactly how to clean up after herself and make any traces of her disappear from a crime scene. She’d been killing for a while now and hadn’t once been caught. Irene really couldn’t help but feel cocky at this point.

Right now, Irene’s cockiness was on display as she was currently playing with a man whom she’d had her eye on for a while. She had him strapped down to her work table, exposed, and with a gag in his mouth. He was lying face up and Irene flicked one of his nipples playfully. He tensed and sweat dripped from the side of his face. His eyes frantically darted across the dark room looking for an escape, but Irene knew he didn’t stand a chance now that she’d caught him.

Her victim tonight was tall and lean. He had muscles but not an overwhelming amount, and he was loaded with cash. He was a rich boy who got handouts from his billionaire father whenever he snapped his perfectly pedicured fingers. Irene hated people like him the most.

Before Irene could play with him, though, she had to learn everything about him. She had to know who his bodyguards were, and what to do in order to get him alone, as well as the place where he spent most of his time so she could easily grab him.

The hunt was another one of Irene’s favorite parts.

Throughout the days she devoted to watching him, she learned of his favorite place to frequent most nights. It was some bougie, upscale bar called ‘Red Dress’ which he would visit every night from Tuesday through Saturday. He’d stay there until the wee hours of the morning and Irene would sit at a cafe across the street and watch him on the outdoor terrace. She would watch as girls flocked to him like lead to a magnet and how they would swoon all over him and his money. Like the pig he was, he loved every second of it and would shove wads of cash down their breasts as they clung to him for more.

Seeing him control those girls with his money, made Irene want to control him with her blade. That’s why she was so excited to play with him right now.

She was still wearing her mask as she towered over his exposed body. His hands were strapped to his sides and his legs were bound and spread apart. Irene was going to do something super fun to his little twig and berries down there, which he seemed to love boasting about to any and every woman he saw. But right now, he was mumbling incoherent pleas behind the gag in his mouth. Irene lifted her foot up to his chest and pressed hard against it with her heel. When he attempted to cry out, still restricted by the gag, Irene leaned close to his face and held up her pointer finger to her mask.

“Shhhh.” She hushed and removed her heel.

He whimpered from the impact and Irene removed the gag from his mouth. She knew no one would hear him if he screamed anyways. She really just wanted to hear him beg for his life.

“P-please s-stop.. don’t you k-know who i am!” He stuttered out and Irene couldn't help but giggle behind her mask at how he was visibly shaking. Not the same cocky rich boy now was he? Irene licked her lips behind the mask.

She spun around so that her long black hair was towards him now as she began to unstrap her mask. She knew it didn’t matter if he saw her face because there was no way he’d make it out of here alive after what Irene was planning to do to him. She smiled just thinking about it. It was going to be to so fun!

“Oh yes. I know exactly who you are.~” She spoke like velvet, her voice bouncing from wall to wall as she dropped her mask to the floor.

“L-look I-i have money. I can pay you ok?”

Irene couldn't help but scoff at that, but hid her disgust behind a sultry giggle.

“I don’t want your money.” She said, and turned around to face him, staring deep into his eyes. “But there is something of yours that I’d love.~” She winked and pressed a finger into his chest.

“A-anything! I can give you millions of dollars o-or what, you’re a woman right, y-you want sex or something? I-I’ll let you do whatever to want j-just don’t kill me!”

Irene’s smile faded instantly, her stare becoming a full on glare, as she processed those disgusting words that he just spat at her.

'a woman right'

'you want sex or something'

Irene felt her hand twitch, eager to grab her knife and just go wild, violently slicing him into pieces, but instead, she took a deep breath and leaned towards him.

“No. I don’t want that. And especially not from you.” Irene glared at him, her gaze piercing into her victim causing him to freeze in fear.

She started to walk to the opposite side of the table, where his legs were strapped down, dragging the blade of her knife across the metal table as she went.

She looked up at the victim’s eyes once again before she diverted all her attention to his crotch. It was disgusting. Irene hated to look at it right now. It just looked so ugly attached to his body. It’s such a shame that there wasn’t a way for her to remove it. It would really look so much better detached from his body.

Oh wait.  
There was a way!

Irene grinned and placed her favorite knife down on top of the boy’s stomach carefully making sure not to pierce the skin. Yet.

“W-what are you doing.” The boy said, panicking.

Irene placed her hands on the metal part of the table and hoisted her body up in one fluid motion so that she was now straddling him. She was sitting on top of her victim’s legs and facing him all while staring at him dead in the eyes and grinning. She was so excited!

“I’ll be taking what I want now~.” She sang and before the boy could even respond, in one swift motion, Irene cut off his manhood.


	2. irene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!MORE MATURE CONTENT!!!

Irene sighed in contentment as she finished wiping of her hands and stepped out into the cold night air.

“Thanks for letting me use the warehouse again, Sooyoung.” Irene spoke, folding her used wipe and placing it into her pocket. She would properly dispose of it later.

“Anything for you Bae unnie,” a cheerful voice answered before a figure stepped out in front of Irene who smiled at the sight of her loyal friend.  
“Though, you have been using it an awful lot lately.” Sooyoung finished, still smiling nonetheless.

“Yes well there are still so many men who need to die.” Irene said calmly and held on tighter to the bag she carried at her side. The bag just looked like an ordinary shopping bag to anyone else on the street, but its contents were anything but clothes.  
Irene looked down at the bag with a smile. She was going to add this one to her collection back at the apartment.

“Of course, unnie but, don’t you think you should slow down. I mean, you’ve killed 6 men this month alone.”

“Enough.” Irene said harshly, looking up at Sooyoung. “I know what I’m doing.”

Sooyoung sighed, she could see Irene wasn’t in the mood to listen right now so she’d make sure to bring it up again later.  
“Yerim should be waiting in the car as usual and I’ve already called for her to dispose of your messy leftovers.” Sooyoung hummed. “You really do make a mess with them don’t you unnie.”

Irene laughed, “It’s what they deserve.” and she locked her arm with Sooyoung’s as they walked back down the alley. They kept their heads down as they strolled through the street, making sure to avoid the usual security cameras, until they say Yerim waving to them from the car parked across the street. She was honking the horn like crazy, regardless of it being nighttime.

“She’s awfully excited for 3 in the morning.” Irene said and waved back.

“Of course! She’s always excited to see you after “work”.” Sooyoung smiled.

“And she’s yet another reason why I think you need to slow down~.” She added.

Irene sighed.

“Bae, I’m only trying to help you, okay.” Sooyoung was facing Irene now with both hands on her shoulders.  
“I just want to make sure nothing bad ever happens to you. You know it would hurt Yerim and Seulgi if they ever found out the truth about you and the fact that you’ve kept this secret from them for so long.”

Irene pouted and looked back over at Yerim who looked confused that they were still standing across the street.

“I know you’re right but, I can’t help it okay..” Irene looked back up at Sooyoung her brown eyes sparkling under the streetlight.

Sooyoung smiled and hugged Irene. “I know, Bae. I know. I just want you to try and space the you-know-whatings out. Please please please. It would make me so happy.”  
Irene hugged her back, happily enjoying the contact, and breathed in Sooyoung’s sweet smell. Just like candy.

“I’ll try. I promise.” Irene said once they’d finished their hug and Sooyoung clapped her hands in excitement.

Seconds later, the girls heard a loud persistent honking coming from across the street. Of course, it was Yerim and she was frantically jumping up and down while hitting the horn on the car in hopes that they’d hurry up.

Sooyoung mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ to Irene before turning towards Yerim and shouting, “WE’RE COMING OH MY GOD!” and they crossed the street together.

 

“Damn, took you long enough!” Yerim said, feigning anger before smiling at her two unnies. “Ooh what’s in the bag, is it for me!”  
Yerim peered over trying to get a good look inside the bag and Irene quickly tugged it away with a knowing smile.

“Actually no. Haha this is..” Irene tried to think of a good answer but her brain kept saying penis penis penis, “well, it’s something for Sooyoung, yeah! Here sweetie!”

Sooyoung’s eyes widened, knowing exactly what the bag contained, and Irene smirked, happily handing the bag to Sooyoung who was sitting in the back sit.

“You should take a look inside!” Irene clapped, “Just don’t take it out yet~.”

Sooyoung glared at her sadistic friend and looked up to see Yerim eagerly wanting to know what was in the bag.

Sooyoung sighed and looked inside it anyways and what she saw was disgusting. It was clean and cut fresh, with no messy, bloody residue. Sooyoung kept a straight face however. She’d seen many of these little “presents” before, especially back in Irene’s collection, though it never got easier to look at them every time.

“Wow unnie! Thank you so much! It’s so pretty.” Sooyoung smiled and closed the bag before placing it at her side in one of the empty seats.

“What is it?” Yerim asked, still turned around in the driver’s seat and watching Sooyoung’s every move. She was hyper, like a little kid on Christmas morning.

Irene answered this time, still smiling and looking through the front window of the car, “Why, it’s a locket that says ‘JOY’ on it! I had it custom made just for her.”

Yeri’s eyes widened in awe, “Woah that sounds so pretty unnie! I want one too!!”

Sooyoung just smiled and nodded. She really wished it was a pretty locket.

“You’ll get one too, soon. I promise.” Irene said and held up her pinky to Yerim who happily accepted the pinky promise.

“Alright can we just go home now, Seulgi’s probably waiting.” Sooyoung replied from the back seat and Yerim turned around and gave a military salute.  
“Okay boss let’s go! I’m hungry!” Yerim cheered and slammed on the gas.

Sooyoung just laughed at her strange friend.

“But I thought I was the boss!” Irene pouted and crossed her arms like a child.

“Of course unnie!” Yerim reassured and saluted Irene too, before cranking the music on the radio all the way up as they sped down the street without a care in the world.

Irene was feeling pretty good about how her day had gone. Everything went as planned and she didn’t get caught (Like she would ever get caught anyways). Those disgusting police officers and detectives would never be able to catch her. Irene was feeling good, but she remembered she needed to slow down because of what Sooyoung had mentioned earlier.

Maybe Irene would try to live a normal life for a while. She did have her real, boring, job tomorrow morning so she would try her best there as a start. Working at a library was so mundane and prude that Irene laughed just thinking about it.

Here’s to trying, though.


	3. wendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!TRIGGER WARNING!!!
> 
> Wendy is introduced in this chapter hehe ;-)

It was hectic at the precinct early this morning.  
It was June 4th.  
Monday.  
The clouds looks sad. Like they might cry soon.

 

* * *

 

Wendy was sitting in her office when she heard an announcement about a meeting that was being held in the conference room. They were going to discuss a string of serial killings that had occured recently so the room would be packed with basically everyone including, detectives, fbi agents, police officers, forensic specialists, you name it.

Wendy stayed at her desk, though. She was still working on a different case and was determined to finish this one first before jumping into a new one.

Plus, Wendy was fairly new to the precinct, having just moved to town a month ago, so some of the detectives still hadn’t gotten used to her being around yet. Wendy didn’t mind though. She was going to show them what she was capable of.

 

She was currently leaning back in her chair, a pen balancing on her upper lip, as she tried to visualize the blood spatter patterns from the case file she read over a few days ago. In one corner of the crime scene the pattern was aggressive and quick, while another spatter towards the bed was precise and delicate. There were two casualties in the case, one a man and the other a woman. Presumably, the man was arguing with the woman in their home around 7:26 in the evening. Neighbors reported it as being very loud and disruptive, some even heard glass shatter and had assumed it was an accident caused by the fight. Instead, it was an intruder.

During their outburst, someone broke in through the back door and snuck upstairs to the unsuspecting couple. The killer proceeded to slice the man to bits while leaving the woman tied up on the bed for later.

The killer had gotten the man out of the way first, thus the quick, messy spatters left behind the corpse, and then savored the killing of the woman. They took their time slicing the woman open bit by bit in precise, fluid motions. The blood spatter on the wall behind her corpse showed just that.

The killer then proceeded to do things to the woman post mortem that Wendy didn’t want to think about in too much detail.

Wendy had figured the blood spatter out within minutes of arriving at the crime scene but she didn’t want to bring it up right away in fear of seeming too cocky. Figuring out blood spatter was elementary to Wendy, but she didn’t want to seem like a show off to these people whom she barely knew. That’s why she’d waited to bring her report to the Chief until the conference meeting.

As for the rest of the case that Wendy knew, the victims were both caucasian, in their mid 40’s, which led Wendy to suspect that the killer was within their same demographic. Most killers kill within their own race because it makes them feel comfortable so it was safe to assume that this killer was caucasian and physically capable of incapacitating a 40 year old. However, the list of suspects that was handed to the lead detective on the case seemed strange to her. Since Wendy only worked in blood spatter, she was only given pictures of blood to analyze every day. She never got to see the completion of a case unless blood was a key factor until the very end. Wendy loved blood but sometimes she hoped to be the one to solve the case.

Sighing, Wendy leaned forward in her chair so her elbows were now on her desk. She turned her head and peered out of the small window on her door. People were running around like crazy, collecting heaps of papers and important books before flooding into the conference room.

Wendy knew she’d get berated by her superiors if she didn’t head in their with as much passion as everyone else, so she collected her case file on the murdered couple, and pushed open the door of her office.

Standing on the precinct floor, Wendy was of average height and wore a starch white lab coat which hung close against her frame. Her coat covered a thick brown turtleneck and went all the way down to her black slacks. She had on silver circle rimmed glasses and her medium length golden brown hair stretched across her back in wavy strands. She had spent the night in her office again and hadn’t realized it was another day until stepping out just now.

She had a habit of becoming too immersed in her work that she’d spend many nights in a row in her office to the point where she had to pack extra clothes. Looking down, Wendy noticed that she had on two different pairs of shoes.  
Wendy sighed and decided to just ignore that for now.

She clutched her papers tightly to her chest before walking into the conference room with everyone else. It was packed and Wendy hoped to get a seat in the front, but the only ones available were located in the back.

As Wendy made her way over to a seat, she heard one of the detectives snicker as she passed by and she looked to see him laughing at her shoes with another coworker. Wendy looked down at her shoes and then back up at the man who was now trying to hide his laughter behind his hand.

“Grow up.” she said, looking the detective in the eyes before turning around and walking over to her seat.  
If she’d turned to look back, she’d of seen the detective glaring at her and scoffing, but Wendy didn’t care anyway. She was too focused on her blood spatter papers now. Her plan was to bring up her analysis on the murdered couple case sometime during, or after, the conference meeting.

“Alright everyone settle down.” A voice spoke up from a microphone at the front of the room.

Wendy looked up from her papers to barely see the head of her precincts Chief. His name was Kim Namjoon, though everyone just referred to him as The Chief. Wendy didn’t know him too well but he seemed pretty nice, at least to her. He was strict and professional when it came to cases yet he seemed to like Wendy for what reason she didn’t know.

“So as you all must’ve heard, there have been a string of serial killings recently in the local area. Though we don‘t know a lot about the killer, we do know this. Our team has discovered the remains of at least 4 unidentified males who each have one thing in common.” The Chief gazed around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention.  
“Write this down.” He said, sharply before turning on the projector behind him.

Everyone in the room quickly took out paper to start writing and Wendy wished she could see the front of the room better. There were still no open seats and Wendy wanted to tell the Chief about her case file, so she moved to sit on her knees in hopes she’d catch his attention from all the way in the back. It didn't help much, but now she could make out what was being displayed through the projector on the wall.

Shocked, her eyes widen when she saw what was being displayed. Wendy thought it was disgusting yet fascinating at the same time. In a messed up way, Wendy would love to see a blood spatter pattern from one of these killings.

“Every victim was bound by their hands and feet and then brutally dismembered. Seen here, the perpetrator severed off the penis of each victim first before slicing off the rest of their limbs. Whoever the killer is, they’re very skilled and know how to clean up after themselves. We haven't yet found any connection between the victims, but we know that they’re going to keep happening unless we do something about it. And that’s why i’ve gathered you all here today.” He said and walked across the front of the room, watching the detectives, studying them.

“I’d like to put together a team of our very best to help in solving this case. I want you to prove yourself to me because I’ll only be choosing a few of you.”  
“In addition, we’ll be partnering up with another precinct in order to efficiently cover as much ground as possible. Our main goal is to prevent these killings from ever occurring again so it will get dangerous.”

Wendy looked up at him in awe. She’d really like to work on this case and she knew just how to prove her worth to the Chief.

 

“I already have a few of you that I’m considering in mind, and for those of you whom i’m not, I want you to prove me wrong.” He scanned the crowd with a stern look and when he made eye contact with Wendy, she held her breath. He smiled briefly before becoming stone cold and serious again.

“Now, if I call your name please stand up.” He spoke, with a voice that demanded authority.

You could see everyone in the room visibly tense at those words. Wendy didn’t think she’d get picked anyways, so she didn’t worry about it. There would be other cases to work on if she didn't get picked for this one.

“Officer Hani.” He announced first and a female police officer with shoulder length brown hair stood up and saluted the Chief before smiling shyly. The Chief nodded and called the next name.

Wendy just drowned it all out and began flipping through her files again. She also became aware of her shoe situation and felt a little embarrassed at how brash she had been with that detective earlier.

Grow up.

She had really told him to “grow up”. Wendy didn’t regret saying it, she just didn’t expect that she’d ever say something like that. And especially at work. She always wanted to have a professional, level headed attitude when surrounded by her coworkers, but that detective guy had really annoyed her. Maybe it was just her lack of sleep that was making her confident all of a sudden.

Shaking her head, Wendy heard the Chief say that he was preparing to announce the final name and Wendy looked up to see the small group of detectives and officers that were standing. They were ‘the chosen ones’.

“And finally, Detective Lee Jong Suk.”

Wendy looked up to see the same detective who laughed at her shoes stand up with a smug look on his face. He was clearly radiating an ‘I’m much better than all of you’ energy and Wendy wanted to gag a little.

‘Whatever, just focus on the files Wendy,’ she told herself.

 

The Chief spoke up again, “Now, this team isn’t final yet, so you can still show me everything you’ve got for a chance to become part of this team. Remember that.”

“Now I’d like to speak to my team alone so you’re all dismissed.” He said and casually shooed off the people who were left seated.  
Wendy stood up but didn’t exit. Instead, she waited for the majority to leave before walking over to Chief Namjoon with her files in hand.

“Chief?”

“Ye- oh, hello Miss Son.” He turned around with a smile.

“Hello, sir. I finished my analysis on the murdered couple case from a few days ago and I thought you’d like to see my conclusion.” Wendy said smoothly, not missing a beat, and held her file up towards her boss.  
The detectives and officers assigned to the serial killer team watched their interaction.

“Ah yes, that case. Well by all means, please, read it to me.” He said and sat down in one of the many chairs while Wendy was facing him at the front. It felt like she was about to give a big speech, and she kinda was.  
With a nod, Wendy began her analysis.

“Well, whoever the killer is, they’re disorganized. The attack on the couple was a blitz attack which we can tell because they didn’t make any effort to move or hide the bodies once they were finished with them. They left them exactly as they were. And, by looking at the damage done to the woman’s face, it’s safe to assume that the killer knew her personally. That’s why I think we should be questioning her past lovers.” Wendy said and paused before speaking again.

“Yet, I also happened to see the list of potential suspects for this case and it was a list of random people who had no connection to the female victim.” Wendy looked down at her notes.

“I really believe we should be questioning people whom the female victim had a former relationship with, or, perhaps someone who would harbor any animosity or jealousy towards her. I believe the suspect is either a jealous ex boyfriend or girlfriend.” Wendy finished with a breath as she focused her direct eye contact to the Chief. She wanted to show him her passion and confidence when it came to solving and interpreting crime scenes.

After a few seconds of silence, Wendy heard a scoff coming from the direction of the detective who had made fun of her shoes. Wendy didn't pay him any attention, though, and instead patiently awaited the Chief’s reaction.

The Chief began to clap slowly and Wendy watched as he stood up and made his way towards her with a smile.  
The other detectives and officers in the room stood up too and followed behind the Chief.

“That was a very good analysis, Wendy.” He spoke and Wendy smiled back.

“Thank you sir.” She bowed shyly.

“Detective Lee.” The Chief spoke behind him, his smile now gone, as he motioned for the detective to step forward.

“Yes sir?” He questioned before looking towards Wendy’s direction, annoyed.

Wendy chose to take interest in her shoes instead.

“Correct me if i’m wrong, but aren’t you the lead detective assigned to that case?”

“Y-yes sir but, we were going to update the sus-“

“That’s enough.” The Chief silenced him with his hand before turning to Wendy again.  
She looked up with questioning eyes.

“Wendy, how would you like to join the serial killer case?” He asked and everyone in the room was shocked, even Wendy.

“But sir we already have a blood spatter analyst on this team.” Detective Lee quickly spoke before Wendy could even blink. “Plus, she just got here like a month ago..” he added under his breath.

 

“Ah yes, Mr. Choi?” The Chief spoke towards the group of people left in the room before a short, balding man stepped out of the crowd.

“Yes, Chief?” Mr. Choi asked as he positioned his glasses on his nose.

“You’re off the case.” The Chief said blatantly, before turning back to Wendy, who was feeling a bit uncomfortable about the situation.

“O-oh yes, of course sir no problem. Thank you for considering me, though.” He bowed before making his way towards the door.

Before he could leave, though, the Chief spoke again.  
“Oh but Mr. Choi, I’d love for you to prove my decision wrong, so please, don’t let this get you down.” And he smiled before Mr. Choi nodded and exited the room.

 

Wendy honestly got whiplash at how up and down this Chief was. He could be stern and blatant one minute, and the next moment he’s all smiles and positive reinforcement.

“Problem solved! Now, Wendy, how would you like to join this team?” The Chief gestured to the group of people behind him and Wendy felt uncomfortable having just replaced Mr. Choi within minutes of the teams formation. She had to admit that she felt a little bad stealing his place, but a part of her wanted to be on this case in order to prove her skills to the Chief and everyone else in the precinct.

So came Wendy’s answer.  
“I’m in.” She said and the Chief shook her hand excitedly. Detective Lee didn’t seem all that happy, though, and Wendy tried to ignore him for now.

“Well good! Now that that’s all taken care of, I’d like to discuss the extent of the serial case a bit more in depth with you all.” The Chief said, motioning for everyone to take a seat as he flipped the lights off and shut the door.

Wendy was happy she could get a seat in the front now and she ended up sitting next to Officer Hani and someone who she didn’t know.  
“Hi, welcome to the team Wendy!” Officer Hani said holding out her hand for Wendy to shake.

“H-hello and thank you. I’m just happy to help.” Wendy whispered back a bit nervous at how close this officer was sitting next to her. Plus, she was really cute and Wendy got super nervous around cute girls.

“My names Hani! I hope we can have lots of fun on this case.” She smiled before turned to face the front as the Chief began to start his powerpoint on the case.

Wendy quickly nodded and felt her palms get sweaty from that interaction. ‘Oh my god Wendy hold yourself together!’ She thought before shaking her head and focusing in on what the Chief was saying.

 

“I didn’t want to share the entirety of the case with everyone earlier, because this is classified information that should only remain within the group of people in this room. If it’s brought to my attention that any of you shared this information with someone else, there will be dire consequences to your actions.” The Chief was back to being stern self again and Wendy kept her eyes focused on the powerpoint.

He flipped through the slides rather quickly but Wendy was able to keep up and jot down the important notes when necessary.

“We know that the culprit wears a mask, which is why we’ve subclassified this case as ‘The Pink Rabbit’ due to such. We obtained this information because one night a witness saw a figure who was wearing a bunny mask leaving suspicious near one of the crime scenes.”

“We haven’t gotten any photographic evidence of what the killer looks like so we have no way of knowing the gender of the killer as well. And since the killer targets men only, it’s hard to make an assumption of their possible gender based on that fact alone. One could argue that the killer is a female who harbors hatred over all men, or a male who has a God-complex and wishes to eradicate every man except himself. There’s really no definite way to know the killer’s intentions at this state in the case.”

“The reason we chose to form a team now, is because this case has been active for many years yet no one has been able to collect any more information than what you’ve just been told. Precinct after precinct have passed down this case after failing to uncover anything that would be considered significant to enough to make progress with this case. That’s why now it’s our turn to take a stab at it- quite literally.” The Chief finished before turning the lights back on.

Wendy didn’t know if she should start clapping but no one else did anything so she just sat there.  
“Now, if no one has any questions, I want to send you all off to research as much as you can online, so get to work. We start the investigation team tomorrow.” The Chief nodded looking at everyone in the audience individually, and when Wendy made eye contact with him, she nodded to show that she was ready to take on this case.  
“And if any of you have questions later on, don’t be afraid to stop by my office and ask me then or whenever you see me around. Now get to work.” He said and dismissed everyone from the conference room.

 

“This case sure sounds like a tough one don’t you think so Wendy?” Officer Hani asked her as they walked out into the main area.

“Y-yes it does seem tough.” Wendy stuttered, feeling the sudden need to adjust her glasses.

“I’m going to research as much as I can and I hope you do too! Good luck team mate!” Hani smiled and waved before walking over to her office.  
Wendy was blushing a bit now and she felt embarrassed just standing in the middle of the precinct like an idiot.

Taking a deep breath, Wendy focused on the case instead and started walking towards her office. Before she could, however, she was stopped in her tracks when someone stepped right in front of her, causing Wendy to run right into them. She almost lost her balance, but thankfully one of her shoes had a good grip so she was able to stop herself from further embarrassment.

“Hey Bill Nye.”

Wendy looked up to see Detective Lee blocking her path. She wanted to roll her eyes.

“Thanks for making me look like a dumbass in front of the Chief earlier. That was super nice of you, team mate.” The Detective scoffed, staring Wendy down.

Wendy took a step back to distance herself and looked up at him, unamused.

“I’m not going to apologize for doing your job better than you.” As soon as the words left her mouth Wendy cringed. Oh my god did she really just say that.. she kicked herself for being so brash today.

The Detective looked even more pissed than before and Wendy started to think that if they were going to fight, she wouldn't stand a chance. She almost braced herself for impact but instead, the Detective jabbed a finger towards her and leaned down close.

“If you think you’re still going to be a part of this case tomorrow you're wrong. I’m going to do everything in my power to make this Hell for you, science geek.”  
Wendy wanted to laugh at how ‘high school’ this whole situation was and she wanted to reply with something like ‘Maybe if you put as much effort into making sure my life sucks as you put into your case work, you would be a much better Detective by now,’ but instead, she moved his finger away from her and walked right passed him without another word. Wendy was smart enough to realize that making a scene in the middle of the precinct was stupid and would only reflect poorly on her character and who her co-workers perceive her as.

Boys like Detective Lee were so hot headed that Wendy just couldn't find herself attracted to anyone like that. The ‘Bad Boy’ stereotype that girls seemed to swoon over in movies was so unappealing to Wendy. She preferred a kind, smart, loving woman to a ‘bad boy’ any day.

Wendy was standing in her office now, the door and blinds on her window closed shut, enveloping her in a nice, cozy darkness. Of course she wasn’t completely in the dark. She did had a dimp desk lamp and a red lava lamp in the corner of the room that reminded her of blood. She had gotten the lava lamp as a gift from her Mother a while back and whenever she was stuck on a case, or feeling homesick, she’d watch the red drips of oil, paraffin wax, and carbon tetrachloride swirl around in peace.

Wendy walked over to her chair, tossing her case files on her cluttered desk, before sighing contently. It was time for her to get busy and research some more about the ‘pink rabbit’ case and Wendy was honestly excited to find a way to one up that Detective again. Wendy’s lack of sleep was seriously making her appear confident as hell in front her peers and she liked it.  
Growing up, Wendy used to get teased a lot by the other kids, but now, she felt really good about being able to stand up for herself.

Stretching her arms, Wendy was determined to get to work and try to find as much new information as possible.


	4. irene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter has no warnings!!! we love a pure(ish) chapter!!!!

When Irene woke up the next morning, the sun had barely risen in the sky and she already regretted her decision to go to “boring work” today.

One of her roommates, Seulgi, had been pounding on her locked bedroom door every 5 minutes to make sure that she was getting ready for work, but Irene hadn’t even moved. Her room was so dark and cozy that she didn’t want to get up.

“Unnie!! I made pancakes! Come outside!” Seulgi shouted through the crack of space at the bottom of Irene’s door. Irene sighed at having to get up, but her roommate was just so cute she had to obey.  
Plus pancakes sounded good right now.  
Not as good as something else though. But she couldn't do that again for a while. Irene frowned just thinking about it.

It didn’t even take Irene more than 5 minutes to get ready as she picked out a super cute outfit consisting of a black button up shirt (making sure to leave the two at the top unbuttoned), a checkered pencil skirt, fishnets, and maroon thigh highs to match her fluffy maroon jacket.

She quickly checked herself out in the mirror and she felt good. She hoped Seulgi would like it and she was excited to see her friends reaction.

“Ooh pancakes, I’m starving! Thanks Seul~” Irene clapped as she walked out of her room, her heels making clicking sounds on the hardwood floor.

“Enjoy!!” Seulgi smiled and was still turned around at the stove flipping more pancakes so she didn’t see Irene make her way over to the table where Sooyoung was already seated.

Sooyoung was reading a newspaper article about something that Irene didn’t care about and she grabbed some strawberries to throw on top of her pancakes.

“Interesting news in the paper today, I think you would find it interesting too, unnie.” Sooyoung said still looking down at the newspaper.

“Oh~ and why’s that Sooyoung?” Irene took another bite of her pancake making sure to lick the fork clean.

Sooyoung looked up with a smile and slide the paper over to Irene before pointing out the section of the paper that she’d wanted her to read.

“Cool ‘librarian outfit’, by the way.” Sooyoung added playfully as she began to happily sip her orange juice, awaiting Irene’s reaction to the news.

“Ooh read it outloud unnie! I can’t see it from here.” Seulgi called from the kitchen and Irene huffed.

“Sure thing! Not sure why Sooyoung thought I’d enjoy this, but it says that the ‘Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is to Form a Team With Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency to Solve the Unsolvable.’”

“I wonder what they’re referring to... but oh well, no point in reading on.” Irene said quickly, putting the paper down before anyone could ask further questions.

Sooyoung shared a look with Irene but she quickly turned away.

“Huh, I wonder what the ‘unsolvable’ means.” Seulgi said making her way towards the table, “What do you thin- oh my god unnie! Are you going to wear that to work!”

“Oh this? Yeah, don’t you love it Seulgi! Don’t I look so nice!” Irene smiled and stood up to show the whole outfit. Irene laughed when Seulgi got flustered and quickly set more pancakes on the table before running to cover Irene’s body.

“Aw you love it that much, Seulgi! Thanks for the hug~.” Irene teased as Seulgi pushed her unnie in embarrassment.

“Librarians do not wear those types of clothes to work and you know that!” Seulgi rushed, taking a step away from Irene and feeling shy all of a sudden.  
Sooyoung choked on her orange juice as she laughed at Seulgi’s little freak out.

“S-stop messing with me oh my gosh!” Seulgi pushed Sooyoung who just laughed more and Irene smiled.

“Fine, fine. I’m not going to wear this okay?”

“Yes! Good. Okay.” Seulgi sighed and fixed her hair which had become a bit out of place somehow.

Irene made her way over to Seulgi like she was going to apologize for messing with her, but instead, she grabbed Seulgi by the shoulders and leaned in close.  
“I’ll save this outfit for you only, okay?” And she pulled away before walking to her room to get changed.

”AHHHH UNNIE STOPPP!!!!!” Seulgi yelled and Sooyoung burst into laughter.

Yerim, who was laying on the couch trying to watch tv this whole time, yelled, “SHUT UP!!!” before throwing a pillow at Seulgi’s unsuspecting head.

 

* * *

 

Now that Irene was dressed in a dull gray mini skirt and matching button up, she figured she’d go full prude and take out her contacts too. She put her hair up into a bun and decided she wanted to feel at least a little sexy, so she threw on some red lipstick.

When she stepped back out into the living room, somehow Yerim was fighting Seulgi on the floor and Sooyoung was laughing and filming them. It wasn’t even considered “a fight” anyways because Yerim was just sitting on Seulgi who was flailing around trying to get free.  
Irene instantly thought of something sexual but shook her head and walked over to the girls.

“I changed for you~ and you better appreciate how nerdy I look.” Irene said and she spun around to show the full effect of the outfit.  
The girls all gave their opinions all at the same time.

“This is much better unnie! I like it!”

“You look weird.”

“HAHAHA GRANNY! Please stay still so I can take a picture of this too!”  
Irene sighed but of course she would pose for the picture.

“I don’t care what you think because I’m still hot.” Irene said with a wink and she pushed past the girls to retrieve the car keys that were on the counter.

“Have fun at work, Bae.~” Sooyoung smiled at Irene, happy that her unnie was giving ‘normal living’ a chance.

“Ooh unnie, before you leave,” Seulgi ran over to Irene, somehow managing to get out from under Yerim. “I want all of you to stop by the coffee shop today after work. I wanna make you all a coffee as a treat!”

“If it’s free, of course I’m in.” Yerim said and was now sitting next to Sooyoung scrolling through the pictures and videos she just took.

“You too, unnie? Pretty pretty please!” Seulgi looked up at Irene and she knew she could never resist her.

“Anything for you Seul.~” Irene smiled and patted her head before waving goodbye and exiting through the apartment door.

 

* * *

 

Working at the library was so boring to Irene. Barely anyone ever came to check out books since the internet was a thing a now, so she spent most of her day just sitting at the check-out counter and people watching.

The same boring, generic people would walk in everyday and sit at one of the tables and read for a while and Irene just wished someone interesting would walk in and save her.

When Irene wasn’t working behind the counter, she would stack and put books away. Her favorite ones to organize were books in the horror section and she’d sometimes read a few pages of a random book that she found. Her boss would always nag her for taking too long and Irene would obey because here she had to put up a front of being a “nice, shy, humble librarian” versus how she’d prefer living.

Oh what she wouldn’t do to have fun with a bad man right now.

But she couldn’t do that since she promised Sooyoung.

Irene didn’t know how long that promise would last, though, because the bell on top of the library door rang and Irene walked over to her counter to welcome the new guest.  
She bowed like she was suppose to and said, “Hello, welcome to Miss Storium’s Book-emporium.” like she was suppose to.  
Irene couldn’t help but internally gag every time those words came out of her mouth.

When she looked up with a “friendly” smile, the customer had already pushed right past her and was looking at a selection of books.

‘Asshole.’ Irene thought and she turned around to see a man with dark brown hair dressed in a brown business suit, looking through the children’s book section.

‘Ew a pervert too.. disgusting.’ Irene looked the man up and down and couldn’t help but glare. Her boss was watching her, though, and she motioned for Irene to go ask the customer if he needed any help. Reluctantly, Irene straightened herself out and walked over to the man.

She cleared her throat and put on her nice girl voice, “Excuse me sir but do you need any he-“

“I can’t find the stupid book she wants.” The man mumbled, cutting her off. Clearly he was frustrated but Irene was pissed that this man hadn’t listen to a word she had said since he walked in here.

She tried again a little louder this time, her nice girl voice cracking, “Excuse me sir! But would you like any help with your um.. children's books?”

“Oh fu- I didn’t even see you there.. when did you get here?”

Irene’s smile twitched and she was fighting the urge not to just drag this man to her warehouse, but she held herself together.

‘Come on Bae, just think about the girls. You can handle this without being messy.’ She told herself, taking a deep breath.

“I just noticed that you were looking through the children’s section,” Irene made sure to say the last part a bit louder so other customers would hear, “so, I came to see if you needed any help finding something in particular.”

The man sighed, impatiently, like Irene was keeping him from something.  
“Yah I need to buy this dumb book for my daughter so just find it already.” He scoffed and shoved a paper into Irene’s chest as he walked in the opposite direction to go sit in one of the chairs.

If there was one thing that Irene hated the most about men, it was when they disrespected her. It made her so angry when they thought they were so much better than her and right now she was getting so pissed at this guy. She was literally just doing her job and asked him for help, yet he was being such an entitled piece of shit that Irene wanted to scream at him.

Her boss was still watching her, though, so Irene, still fuming, bowed at the man and went to look for the stupid fucking book that he just couldn’t handle finding himself.

The book that was written on the paper that she was given was some princess book that she’d never heard of, yet she easily found it after a few seconds of looking.

She walked back over to the man who was typing away at something on his phone and Irene placed the book on the table in front of him. When he didn’t look up right away, Irene cleared her throat and the man seemed startled that she was standing there again.

“Gah dammit- what are you a ghost or something.” He said grabbing the book from the table.

“Yes I am a ghost.” Irene smiled and she walked back over to the check-out counter in hopes that the man would follow her and get out of here before she did something that she’d enjoy now, but probably regret later.

“Here.” The man tossed the book on the counter and then his phone started to ring.  
Irene scoffed but scanned the item anyways.

“No- look, just tell that bitch I’m coming. Yes I got the damn book. She still likes princesses and dumb shit right? I don't care how old she is, girl’s like this shit. Whatever.”

Irene couldn’t help but eavesdrop on his loud ass phone conversation in the middle of the library. She was putting his book into a bag when he glanced over at her.

“Nah the girl’s in here aren’t anything to look at. This one’s like a 5 but has the potential of being a 9 if she dressed better.” The man winked and grabbed the bag from her.

Irene was trying so fucking hard to hold herself together right now. Why the fuck did this man want to test her entire patience today? As calm as Irene could possibly be, she quickly grabbed the man's sleeve before he could walk away.

“Excuse me sir, but we need to add your phone number and address into the system so we can contact you regarding the return of the book.”

The man took the phone from his ear and, as if she was burdening him, he told her his address and phone number before leaving.

Irene smiled.  
‘Sorry Sooyoung but I’m going to have fun with this one later.’ <3


	5. wendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we back to wendy again!!!

Wendy had been working for a really long time, searching every part of the web that she could to find info about her new case, yet she didn’t find anything.  
She leaned back in her chair with a sigh, “They seriously weren’t kidding when they said this case was going to be tough..” she thought aloud, disappointed in herself for wasting all this time.

They barely knew anything about this case so far except for the fact that the killer goes after men only and wears a bunny mask. They didn’t even know the gender of the killer because there had been no good witnesses.

Maybe Wendy could try and do more digging about the bunny mask… Was the bunny significant in any way? Did someone sell the killer that mask of did they make it themselves? Wendy was too tired to think straight right now, though. It had been way too long since she had slept in her own bed and she would do anything for some energy right now.

Stretching, she decided to just call it a day and grabbed her jacket to leave. She didn’t even know what time it was but she had a guess that it was going to be dark out once she stepped outside.

The precinct was relatively quiet now, some people were still working at their desks, while others offices were completely dark. She noticed that the Chief’s office was dark as well so she assumed he must’ve headed home already.

Since Wendy lived fairly close to her work, she always walked home since it was only about a 15 minutes walk. Plus she liked walking, it helped her think.

When Wendy got outside, the cold nighttime air hit her face and she shivered, wrapping herself tighter in her jacket.

The moon was shining high in the sky and Wendy was about to start walking home when she was stopped by a voice calling her name.

“Wendy hey!”  
It was the voice of a man and when Wendy turned around, she saw it was the Chief waving at her from across the street. Confused, Wendy waved back and made her way over to him and the group of detectives standing by.

“Hello Chief, everything okay?” She asked, fixing her bangs with her fingers.

“Wendy! You look like you could use a coffee right about now.”

Wendy visibly relaxed when he said those words. “That’s right, sir.”

“Well how about you come join me and a few others at this coffee shop just a few minutes down the road.” He asked with a smile.

“Ah well I appreciate the offer and everything but I-”

“I insist.” The Chief cut her off, still smiling at her. Wendy felt a bit uncomfortable at how direct he was being and she kind of felt like she had to say yes to him now.

“Ah, sure why not..” She said shoving her hands into her coat pockets and the Chief nodded.

“Great! Let’s go now.”

As they were walking, Wendy noticed that among the group of detectives that were going, Detective Lee was one of them. He hadn’t been paying attention when the Chief had called her over to join them earlier so he still hadn’t noticed she was there. Wendy was hoping to keep it that way. She wasn’t trying to get into another argument with this detective today. She just wasn’t mentally prepared to be “sassy” anymore.

Wendy chose to walk a bit apart from the group of detectives, who seemed way too chipper for having less than 3 hours of sleep and working 24/7. She wondered if they were robots or something.

With a yawn, Wendy continued walking as she watched a few cars drive by. She hadn’t even noticed the Chief lag behind to walk beside her because he didn’t say anything to get her attention.  
Wendy was still focused on her surroundings, counting how many cars she saw. It was pretty boring but she liked to keep her mind fresh and focused at all times.

“Pretty chilly out, huh?” The Chief finally spoke up from beside her and Wendy jumped.

“22!! I mean, haha, yes sir, it is.” Wendy looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed, the Chief didn’t acknowledge it though and Wendy was thankful.

“So, did you happen to find any new information online about the pink rabbit case?” The Chief asked, but by the way he said it, it made her think that he already knew the answer.

“Nope.. nothing.” She said, kicking a stray pebble with her shoe as they walked.

“Hmm.” The Chief nodded, looking ahead at the other detectives who were messing around with one another as if they were drunk, “Maybe we’ll have more luck tomorrow.”

Wendy just nodded instead of answering.

Once they reached the coffee shop, the smell of fresh coffee beans hit Wendy’s nose instantly. She was honestly so excited to drink something to help wake herself up. She was feeling kinda sluggish and she hated when she didn’t feel incontrol at all times.

This coffee shop was one that Wendy had been to a few times before. She had come on her first day of work and had found one of the waitresses to be really kind. She helped Wendy when she was feeling nervous about starting her new job and she was thankful to her ever since. Wendy tended to be awkward around girls who she thought were pretty or that she’d just met for the first time, yet with this girl it was different. Wendy felt okay around her.

The detectives ahead of them had already sat down in one of the booths inside the cafe while others were sitting at the bar. The Chief held the door open for her to walk through and Wendy was thankful for the small getsure.  
She kind of hoped her favorite waitress would be working today, but right now she didn’t see her.

After scanning the cafe for a while, she decided to sit down at the bar since the detective that she was planning to ignore was seated at a booth.

The cafe was really cozy and Wendy took off her coat to relax. The walls were painted a pretty caramel color and the whole aroma of the place felt really welcoming. She imagined it would be especially nice to seek comfort in when it was snowing outside.  
Wendy was also kind of glad when the Chief didn’t sit next to her because she really didn’t feel like talking to him right now. She just wanted something to drink.

Strumming her hands against the counter, Wendy flipped through the menu of drinks. She usually got a tall, nonfat caramel latte with extra foam, but she was definitely feeling something stronger for today.  
She was still looking down at the menu when she heard the bell at the top of the door ring, signaling someone else had walked in, though she didn’t pay it much attention. She decided on ordering a caffe americano.

“Hey hun, what can I get ya?”

Wendy looked up to see a waitress that she didn’t recognize.

“I-I’ll take a caffe americano, please.”

“Sure thing, coming right up.”

Wendy smiled and handled the woman her menu before looking around the cafe.

Among the occupants at the cafe, she noticed a group of three girls sitting in a booth next to the detectives.  
From what she could tell about their appearances, one of them had short black hair and looked super cute, and another had blonde hair tied up in a half up half down hairstyle. That one looked pretty young too, but still equally cute in Wendy’s opinion. Finally the third girl, whos back was to Wendy, had long shiny, black hair and Wendy assumed she was just as cute as her friends, though she couldn’t see her face to prove it.  
She would do everything in her power to not make eye contact with those girls because she knew that she’d probably be a nervous mess if she had to talk to any of them.

Deciding to look anywhere else for now, Wendy ended up cursing her luck when she made eye contact with Detective Lee who was in the middle of loudly ranting about something when he stopped as soon as he saw her.

Quickly turning around, Wendy looked elsewhere and ended up making eye contact with the Chief too.

‘Ah fuck.’ she cursed in her head and just chose to look down instead.

‘Please don’t come over here, please don’t come over here.’ She repeated in her head like a mantra before something interrupted her.

“Wendy!”  
It was a girl’s voice and Wendy turned around to see her favorite waitress.

“Hey Seulgi!” Wendy smiled, “I wasn’t sure if you were working today and I was a little disappointed when I didn’t see you.”  
They hugged, having gotten pretty close since they’d met only a few days ago, and Seulgi sat down next to her.

“Of course I’m always here!” She smiled and Wendy was glad that Seulgi had sat down since that meant that the Chief and the detective couldn’t come talk to her.  
If she had looked to see their reactions, she would’ve seen them both sit back down, one looking annoyed, and the other a bit deflated.

“Another late shift at the office?” Seulgi guessed with a knowing smile and Wendy nodded.

“Yep, I’m hoping to actually go home today. I’ve spent too many nights at the office haha.”

“Hmm, well I can get you a free coffee if you haven’t ordered already, my treat! I’m actually here with a few friends to do the same thing!” She turned to point to her group of friends and Wendy held her breath when she realized it was the group of insanely attractive girls in the booth that she’d seen earlier. Of course someone as cute as Seulgi would have cute friends.

“I-I’m good, thanks for o-offering.. I already ordered, though hah.” Wendy was already acting all weird.  
Seulgi frowned and Wendy guessed that she was about to invite her over to sit with her and her friends anyways, but thankfully the other waitress that had taken her order before interrupted her.

“Here’s your caffe americano, ma’am. Enjoy!” the waitress set the steaming cup in front of her and Wendy’s mouth watered a bit at the sight of it.

Seulgi sighed. “Well the least I can do is pay for it.” she said with a wink and handed the waitress the proper payment. Before Wendy could protest, Seulgi had already stood up to go sit with her friends at the booth, “Talk to you soon?”  
Wendy just nodded with a smile and turned to drink her coffee as Seulgi walked away.

The coffee tasted so good, probably the best thing that Wendy had consumed in a while. It made her feel warm inside and she was already feeling better than before.

Since Seulgi had left her alone, that meant that there was an open seat next to Wendy once again and she was dreading the next occupant of it. She had a feeling it would either be the Chief or that detective.

Choosing to ignore it for now, she took another sip of her coffee in peace, but before she knew it, someone had taken the seat next to her and was currently sitting backwards with their elbows leaning on the edge of the countertop. Wendy was too scared to look, so she pretended that she didn’t notice for a while before the voice of a woman spoke up.

“What’s a cute girl like you doing sitting here all alone?~”


	6. irene (ft. wendy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> irene and wendy <3
> 
> (more frequents updates on my twitter @ douxpink!!!)

Irene made sure to write down that man’s address on a piece of paper so she could save it for later. She had found out that his name was Oh Ha Joon and she was really excited for what she had planned for him. She even considered leaving work earlier today to sneak up on him, but she knew her manager would end up saying no so she would just cash in one of her ‘sick days’ tomorrow.

Strumming her nails against the wooden desk, Irene was looking forward to tomorrow. But she still had to get through today and she was reminded of the fact when a timid boy cleared his throat and handed her a few books that he wanted to check out.

Irene inwardly sighed but put on her cutest smile to ring the books up for him.  
“Oh thank you so much! Did you find everything that you needed?” She said sweetly, looking up at him with big eyes.

The boy fumbled with the glasses on his nose as he stuttered out a “y-yes.” before looking at his feet. Irene smiled because she really loved messing with people like this. The type of person so immersed in books or their own loneliness that one look from Irene could send them panicking.  
So what? She was sadistic, sue her.

“Have a marvelous day, sir!” Irene said, still smiling, and handed the boy his bags in a way so that their hands would touch.  
She could feel the boy tense at the touch and it made Irene want to laugh. Of course she was just messing with him and she would never have feelings for someone like him.

The boy nodded and quickly scurried out of the door and Irene sat down in her chair contently. She was bored again, though, and she turned around to look at the clock in hopes that she could leave soon, but she still had a good 30 minutes left of her shift.  
Irene groaned, dreading having to play a cutestly little librarian for another half hour and she seriously prayed that Sooyoung or Seulgi would come and save her from this boredom.

Time passed by slowly but finally the clock hit 9:00 pm and Irene cheered when she saw that she could close up the store and leave.

Stretching, Irene happily bounded to the door and turned the sign from open to closed before locking it with her key.  
With her back still facing away from the door, she felt a presence creeping up behind her. She was about to attack whoever it was, until she heard a familiar voice speak up and tap her shoulder, “Excuse me, miss, but can you tell us where Bae Joohyun is? She works here too but we haven't see-”  
Irene turned around quickly to see Sooyoung laughing behind her hand and Yerim looking shocked that she was asking Irene where Irene was.

Irene gave them a look before Yerim started laughing too at her mistake. “Oh my God ahahah! I forget you wore that shit today hahahaha! I thought you were some old lady oh my God!!”

“Don’t I look sexy though, Yeri?” Irene teased, snapping out of her mild annoyance, and placed her hand against Yerim’s cheek.

“Oh stop it you!” Yerim blushed a bit before slapping her unnie’s hand away. “Save that shit for Seulgi when we get to the cafe.”

“Oh yeah.. that. I forgot about that.” Irene said and Sooyoung nodded.

“Yep so let’s get going! I’m thirsty for some coffee.” She smiled and locked arms with the two girls as they headed towards the cafe.

 

* * *

 

The cafe that they were heading to wasn’t too far away from the library, maybe only 8 minutes, and Irene was glad since it was a bit chilly outside, though she was never bothered by a little cold. Or a little hot.  
The girls chatted as they walked, Yerim would blabber on and on about her boring school work and Sooyoung would smile and laugh at her impressions of some of her professors.

“Yerim deary~” She began, in her best ‘posh old-lady’ voice, “You cannot wear such ghastly ‘hooligan’ attire in this classroom!”

Sooyoung giggled, “Did she really say that haha?” and Irene smiled when she broke character and gestured to her clothes.

“Yes! Now someone explain to me how this is ‘inappropriate’ to university dress code!”

“Shoulders.” Irene said instantly, “But you know I love looking at those shoulders of yours~”

Yerim did a gagging motion with her finger and Irene laughed.

“She’s right though,” Sooyoung added, “Boys can’t handle seeing a woman’s shoulder without busting it out.” She teased and Irene nudged her, feeling proud for some reason.

“Yerim, if any of those oldies give you any trouble, just send them my way and I’ll deal with them for you, okay?” Irene smiled.  
Sooyoung knew she was being serious so she shivered a little at the thought of what Irene would actually do.

Yerim just rolled her eyes, “Thanks unnie, you're my knight in shining armor.” she said before they made it in front of the cafe.

“Me first, me first!” Sooyoung sang as she pushed open the front door, signalling the tiny bell at the top of it to ring.  
Yerim walked in behind her and Irene shook her head at her dumb friends.

“It’s so cozy in here.” Sooyoung said as she ran over to one of the booths to sit at.

“Where is Seulgi anyway?” Irene asked once they got situated in their seats.

“Yeah what the hell isn’t she supposed to give us free stuff?” Yerim said looking around the cafe to see if their friend was working.  
Irene looked around too and she noticed that it wasn’t very crowded. But of course, as soon as realized that, the front door banged open and a group of detectives and police officers came bounding in, chatting up a storm with one another. Irene tensed a bit and she felt Sooyoung give her a look, but she relaxed when she realized they were just here to drink coffee, not arrest anyone.

“Detectives must come here a lot after work, huh. Makes sense I guess.” Sooyoung said, still looking at Irene who just nodded as if the statement meant nothing.

“It smells like pig in here all of sudden.” Irene hummed as she flipped through the drink menu.  
Yerim snorted in mild agreement.

 

* * *

 

After a while of turning down a persistent waitress from taking their orders, they were starting to get tired of waiting for Seulgi.

“Doesn’t she work here! Where the hell is she oh my god.” Yerim cried, practically laying on the table in front of them now.

“You're such a child.” Sooyoung giggled.

“Your one to talk..” Yerim mumbled and Irene was about to just text Seulgi before the back door of the cafe opened and in came their friend.

“Hey guys!!” Seulgi cheered as if they hadn’t just been waiting for her. “Sorry for the wait haha, I just had to take care of something real fast but I’m here now!”

“Thank god.” Yerim sat up and pointed to exactly what she wanted on the menu. “This pleaseee!!”  
Seulgi shook her head with a smile and fastened her apron tighter around her waist.

“Well don’t you look adorable in your work clothes.” Irene spoke up, admiring her cute friend.  
Seulgi blushed a bit as she fumbled to write down Yerim’s order. “Ahh Bae, seriously, you’ve seen me wearing this before.”

“Yes but you look extra cute today.~” Irene smiled and then told her what she wanted to order.

“Ooh make that two Vanilla Lattes!” Sooyoung chimed in and Seulgi huffed in determination after successfully writing down their orders.

“Alright alright, is that all?” She asked.

“This is free right?” Yerim said instead and Seulgi sighed.

“Yes, it’s on the house!”

Irene winked at Seulgi as they made eye contact and Seulgi just frustratedly looked away.  
“OKAY I’m getting your orders now!!” She rushed and turned around to get their drinks.

Irene giggled and Sooyoung kicked her from under the table.  
“Stop messing with her, Bae.” She said, though she did enjoy their gay antics sometimes.

Irene just rolled her eyes playfully and was about to retort before she heard Seulgi shout something.

“Oh Wendy!” Seulgi said happily and Irene turned her head to see her friend talking with a girl at the counter.

She wasn’t just any girl, however, and Irene held her breath when the girl smiled. It was absolutely stunning and Irene felt her heart skip a beat. She also couldn't help but listen in on their conversation.

“Hey Seulgi! I wasn’t sure if you were working today and I was a little disappointed when I didn’t see you.”  
Her voice was so beautiful that Irene honestly felt giddy. She had become too interested in staring at the pretty girl to even hear what Sooyoung was saying to her.

Yerim was also too immersed in something stupid to pay attention, though for a different reason, but Sooyoung had noticed Irene go silent and she looked at her friend questioningly.

Irene, on the other hand, had never seen someone so beautiful that it made her speechless. She was usually very calm and collected when it came to love life and girls in general, but now she felt different. She felt like a schoolgirl watching her crush from afar and it made her excited and a bit nervous at the same time.

Sooyoung was frantically snapping her fingers to get Irene’s attention, but when she didn’t budge, Sooyoung traced where she was looking.

‘Of course it’s about a girl..’ She thought, shaking her head, and then turned her attention to what Yerim was doing. Sadly, it wasn’t anything interesting. She was just trying to blow the rest of the wrapper off of her straw. ‘So childish.’

Irene was still watching Seulgi speak with that girl and she honestly felt a little jealous. Seulgi had hugged her.. How did Seulgi know someone so beautiful without Irene knowing! She would’ve remembered if she was ever introduced to someone like her.

Suddenly, Seulgi pointed in Irene’s direction as she explained to the girl that she was here with them and Irene froze a bit when the girl made eye contact with her.  
Not to be too dramatic, but Irene honestly heard fireworks going off somewhere when their eyes made contact. The feeling was quickly broken, though, when the girl turned her head back to Seulgi.

Irene blinked, feeling a bit stunned, and sat back down in her seat.

“You good?” Sooyoung asked, staring at her wide eyed friend and Irene placed a palm to her chest to feel her heart pounding a bit faster than usual.

“Hellooo? Earth to Bae?” Sooyoung asked again and Yerim, having finally gotten the wrapper off of her straw, cheered in triumph, clearly in her own little world too.

“N-nothing.” Irene said, snapping out of her little trance and she tried to act as if nothing happened.  
Sooyoung gave her a strange look and Yerim was just confused on what had happened while she was having a duel with that straw wrapper.

“Bae, Bae, Bae.. so obvious now aren’t we?” Sooyoung teased a bit and Irene just fumbled with her hands a bit under the table. She dared to spare a glance at the girl once again but Seulgi had arrived with their orders that had been waiting at the end of the counter for a while.

“Hey, sorry for the wait! Here you go.” Seulgi smiled and sat down next to Irene so her view was further obstructed.

“Ooh gimme gimme!” Yerim grabbed her drink from the foam tray and happily sipped at it.

Irene didn’t even move to grab her drink and instead turned to look at Seulgi.

“H- I mean, how do you know that girl?”

Seulgi hummed, looking a bit confused before realizing what she was referring to.  
“Oh you saw that?”

“She was watching you like a hawk.” Sooyoung chimed in, sipping on her latte in peace.

“Hah really?” Seulgi sounded confused and astonished at the same time, “Well, that’s Wendy!” she smiled and turned to point at the girl who was drinking her coffee at the counter and looking around.

“Wendy, huh?” Irene whispered and subconsciously licked her lips in excitement.

“Yep, she comes by the cafe a lot.“ Seulgi explained, handing Irene her drink though she didn’t take it, “It’s because she works a lot. She’s actually a-“  
But before Seulgi could finish, Irene stood up, struggling to shimmy her way past Seulgi, and dusted herself off. Irene was determined to make her way over to that girl.

“..forensic analyst.” Seulgi finished, a bit confused about how the course of events that just played out.

Sooyoung perked up at the mention of forensics though she didn’t comment on it. She’d bring it up with Irene later.

 

* * *

 

Irene was feeling a bit nervous at her decision to walk over here, but she knew that it was the right choice. She felt really confident going to talk to this girl because it felt like something she had to do. Taking a deep breath, Irene sat down in the seat directly next to Wendy and thought about what she should say for a bit before breaking the silence.

“What’s a cute girl like you doing sitting here all alone?~” She asked, the sentence leaving her mouth like velvet as she turned to face the girl.

“E-excuse me?” The girl stuttered out after finishing a sip of her coffee. Her eyes were big and pure in a way that made Irene want to gush over the ‘cute shy girl thing’ that she had going on.

“I was just wondering why someone as cute as you was sitting here all alone.” She said and watched as the girl became nervous. Irene smiled.

“O-oh I- Hello, thank you.” She struggled to make eye contact with Irene as she spoke, “Y-your one of the girls who knows Seulgi.”  
Irene was dying at how cute and nervous this girl was!

“Yes! Seulgi is one of my very good friends.” She winked and noticed how the girl blushed a pale shade of pink.

Irene was having the time of her life. “Enough about her though, I’m Bae, Bae Joohyun.” She smiled gracefully and turned in her chair so that her whole body was now towards the girl.  
The girl’s eyes widened a bit at the sudden change, but she quickly regained her composure. “Ah, Bae. Well it’s n-nice to meet you. I’m W-”

“Wendy, yes. Seulgi told me.” Irene interrupted with a smile.  
Wendy nodded, returning the smile, before taking a large sip of her coffee in hopes to ease her nervousness. She hated how anxious she got around pretty girls and Irene was just flat out stunning.

Irene continued to smile, honestly finding her shyness immensely attractive. She just wanted to wrap Wendy up in a hug and take her away for herself.  
Irene watched as Wendy let the caffeine soak in and her eyes slowly become less cloudy and more focused. Irene had just noticed how tired she looked before. For some reason it made her heart twinge in a way that she didn’t understand.

“Phew, that was refreshing haha. Sorry, it’s just been a long week.” Wendy smiled up at her, having finished her entire coffee now.  
Irene waved her hand around the air in a back and forth motion in hopes to ease Wendy’s discomfort. “It’s all good.~ I’m just happy I got to meet someone so pretty today.” Irene loved being blunt and it made her heart beat when the girl smiled at her with a short giggle.

“Haha you’re too kind, really.” Wendy placed a hand under her chin as she looked back at Irene, she looked like she was deep in thought all of a sudden. Irene craved the moment when they’d make eye contact.

“You like caffe americanos I see?”

Wendy nodded and snapped out of her gaze from Irene. She wasn’t sure why she was so easily lost in Bae Joohyun’s eyes.. she’d only just met her.

“Waitress, please, another caffe americano for the lovely lady.” Irene said to a waitress passing by who simply nodded and bowed before running to get the order ready.

“Oh really, you shouldn’t have.” Wendy hummed as she fiddled with the bottom hem of her turtleneck.

“It’s really no problem.~”

Irene just wanted to see Wendy smile some more today. Maybe she was greedy but she felt like she was meeting her soul mate. She barely knew the girl and she was definitely being too hasty but she found the girl so interesting for some reason. She couldn’t quite place her finger on what exactly drew her to the girl, maybe it was due to how cute she was, or maybe because she genuinely enjoyed the few minutes she’d spent talking to her. Since Irene barely knew her, though, she was definitely jumping to conclusions about them ever ‘falling in love’. She didn’t know her. What if she wasn’t even gay? What if she had a boyfriend? What if they never saw each other again after tonight?  
Irene pouted, cursing her thoughts for shedding doubt on her blissful chat with a cute girl. She noticed Wendy glancing at her watch as if she was late for something, and Irene was about to ask about it, before the waitress came back with the order.

“One caffe americano. That’ll be $2.70, please.” She said, placing the steaming cup on the counter.  
Both Wendy and Irene had reached for their wallets, though Irene was quickier, as she handed the woman the proper payment.

“Ah, thank you.” Wendy nodded shyly, and Irene just smiled happily as Wendy took a sip. She was too cute!

Wendy took a few more sips, making sure to thank Irene for the coffee between each one, before she glanced at her watch again.

“Is everything okay?” Irene’s curiosity got the better of her as she noticed Wendy set the cup down, it was about halfway finished by now.

“Y-yes.” She was stuttering again and Irene couldn’t help but giggle a bit behind her palm. “It’s just- well, I should probably be heading home soon.” She said it as if she was putting Irene out by being here.

“Oh well don’t let me keep you.~” Irene smiled, she hadn’t stopped smiling since she’d sat down.

Wendy fumbled with her hands again before nodding. Irene noticed this was a habit of hers. Cute!  
“Thank you again for the coffee, Bae. It was great meeting you.” She smiled, her eyes sparkling, as she stood up. Wendy was about to walk away, before she turned around and quickly finished the rest of her coffee.

Irene giggled when she finished the drink and shyly waved goodbye, her hands becoming enveloped in her large sweater sleeves. She then turned on her heel and exited the shop.  
She must’ve thought it would be rude to not finish the coffee that Irene had bought her. She seemed like that type of person to Irene. Too kind for her own good, she guessed.

Irene stared at the door for a bit after she left, collecting herself from that whole interaction. She seriously felt like some schoolgirl who just talked to their crush for the first time and it felt so foreign to Irene that she loved it. It made her feel excited and nervous and right, all at the same time. She did, however, feel like a complete idiot when the blissfulness died down and she realized that she hadn’t offered to walk the girl home or give her her number. She had also forgotten about her friends sitting at the booth a few feet away that had been watching her interaction with Wendy the whole time.

With a huff, Irene turned around to see her three friends quickly turn their heads, as if they hadn’t just been caught, and Irene sighed. She was about to get a mouth full of questions and comments and lectures from her noisy friends, but she didn’t care. She felt good and she would answer anything they asked her too since she’d just spent an hour talking with a girl she’d just met instead of sitting with her friends. It was the least she could do, though, she had a feeling they wouldn’t be too mad. They probably had a lot to say, like how Irene’s entire demeanor changed when she spoke with that girl.

‘Let’s get this over with then.' Irene thought before making her way over to her eager friends.


	7. wendy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no mature content here hehe just some cute fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i also upload this fic on wattpad so you can add me on there @polychromaticc if you want!
> 
> enjoy the fluff!

Stepping outside, Wendy instantly felt a rush of cold against her face. It helped to ease how flustered she had felt during that whole conversation with her.

Bae Joohyun.

She felt her cheeks turn pink just thinking about that girl who she had just met today. She was truly unlike any girl that Wendy had ever met. Bae had made Wendy nervous, comfortable, a bit hot, and safe all at the same time. She was nervous to speak to her yet she wanted to tell her everything. She even got lost in her piercing gaze for a minute and Wendy had to shake her head in embarrassment just thinking about it. Why must she be so awkward around pretty girls..  
Wendy nuzzled her face closer into her sweater as she began to walk to her apartment.

She had spent a lot longer than she’d expected at that cafe, but at the same time, she was glad she had. She had met a very interesting girl. A very good distraction. A very beautiful distraction. Wendy wondered if they’d ever see each other again.

Wendy looked down at her shoes as she walked. They were still mix-matched which made her laugh. Maybe she was glad Bae hadn’t commented on them. She felt a bit embarrassed all over again.

Sighing, Wendy realized how refreshed those coffees had made her. It was a good sign, and she was looking forward to having a nice warm shower and going to bed as soon as she got home.

As Wendy continued walking, trying to think of anything other than that girl, she heard someone behind her. She looked to side, wondering if someone had been tailing her, though she didn’t turn around to clarify. She couldn’t give away that she knew if someone really was following her. Good thing she was trained for this. On the off chance that she was just being paranoid, it was still good training to keep her sharp.  
She stopped at a crosswalk, a few people were already waiting, and she heard footsteps stop behind her. 'Great, way to ruin a good night,' she thought.

When the crosswalk flashed the ‘walking man symbol’, she huffed and followed behind the group in front of her, still being weary of the possible stalker.  
Just to be sure, she would take a few right turns to see if someone really was following her. That way, they would walk in a complete circle and she would knowc for sure.

Before she could do that however, she wasn't paying much attention to where she was going, and accidently tripped on a loose pebble on the sidewalk. She braced herself for the fall, but the impact never came because someone had grabbed onto her arm.

“Woah! I gotcha.” The voice of a man said and Wendy sighed when she recognized the voice.

“Thank you, Chief.” She said apathetically once she had collected herself. ‘Of course it was him.’ She thought before turning to face her boss.

He was standing before her with the same smile he always had on when talking to her.  
“I hope you know I was just testing your reflexes. Keeping you sharp.” He hummed and started walking ahead of Wendy.

She nodded, though he didn’t see, and fell into place beside him.

“I’ll walk you home, too.”

“Thanks.”  
Wendy didn’t need him to walk her home, though she wasn’t going to say no. Part of her felt like he wouldn’t take no for any answer anyways.

“I was hoping to talk about the case with you at the cafe, but you seemed busy.” He was staring straight ahead and Wendy couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Ah, sorry about that.”

They fell into an awkward silence, the sound of speedy cars as well as the fragmented conversations of strangers walking by filled their lack of exchange. Wendy stifled a yawn behind her hand. Was the caffeine seriously wearing off already?

Wendy also didn’t know why he wanted to speak with her so badly. She thought he had already told the team the majority of what they knew about the killer.

“I was looking over the case files in my office earlier.” The Chief spoke up. “And I was racking my brain trying to see if there was any detail that we’d missed. I have to admit, it was hard. The suspect is very clean in their work and they make practically no mistakes. Practically.”  
Wendy looked up at him, confused.

He exhaled, causing a puff of breath to be seen in the air. “I noticed something. At first I thought it was just a smudge due to how old the documents were, but on further examination, I thought it looked too important to override. The smudge was a faded maroon color, probably once a vibrant red. It was a very small smudge, though I happened to notice how out of place it looked on the brown paper. I wondered if it could be blood. Possibly blood of the killer themself.”

Wendy’s eyes widened a bit. “Did you have it tested?”

“No, no. Not yet. I was going to check it out tomorrow. To be quite honest, I was hoping you could give it a look on the off chance that it ends up being something else.” He was staring at Wendy now, though his eyes were softer than before.

“Yes, of course.” Wendy nodded. “I could give it a look today if you’d like, sir?”

“No, it can wait, you should rest.” He hummed and Wendy felt a bit embarrassed.

“I’m fine.” She said, “I’d love to give it a look right now.”

The Chief gave a breathy laugh and sighed. “Well if you insist, then follow me.”

Wendy smiled and followed in place beside him once again. She could just go home tomorrow night. Work came before pleasure anyways.  
Plus she was interested to see if they’d actually discovered something to help close the case.

 

* * *

 

“Lipstick.. It was just lipstick.” The Chief sighed after they’d completed their tests. “Sorry for making you stay out all night for this.” The Chief said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Ah it’s fine.” Wendy said, trying to remain positive. “Though it didn’t end up being what we expected, at least we can assume that the killer is female, though they could be a man who likes to wear makeup..” Wendy trailed off. She wasn’t sure if she was helping or not.  
Wendy was seriously drained now. Not only was she disappointed, but she was tired, too.

The Chief sighed. “Well hey, if you want the day off I won’t blame you.”

Wendy shook her head. “No, I’m fine to work.” She had to work. There was no time for breaks. She could work today and be just fine anyways. Getting no sleep was practically in the job description.

“Alright well, since the sun is basically up again,” The Chief said, peering through the blinds of the nearest window. “I want you to get back to work and continue trying to research everything you can.”

Wendy nodded and was about to exit before the Chief spoke up again. “Oh, and Wendy, the team will be meeting with the other precinct that’s helping with the serial killer case today at around 2:00 pm, so don’t forget to stop by the conference room.”

“Yes, sir.” Wendy replied before stepping out of the door and making her way back to her office.

As she was walking, she noticed that the precinct was already starting to fill in with eager workers. Some were already typing away at their computers, others were conversing and eating breakfast with one another, and others had just walked in and were hanging their coats up. Wendy hummed, feeling eager to get to work as well.  
When she stepped into her dark little office, she made sure to turn on her lava lamp and desk lamp to bring some light it. Plopping down in her chair, Wendy took a deep breath before cracking her knuckles and getting to work. She honestly loved her job and she thought doing research was really interesting. Though, research was only fun when she actually got a result. With this case in particular, there was never a result.

She combed through the dark depths of the internet for what felt like hours and found nothing. She tried to be as diligent as possible in her work, and again, was left with nothing. She searched online for that lipstick brand that they found on those documents in hopes to find anything about purchase records or something that could help her, but of course, nothing. She did learn, however, that the lipstick brand was popular in America so the killer would have had to have shipped it to Korea.  
Wendy wasn't sure if that was helpful either.

To add to the mess of it all, Wendy’s office felt more comfy the longer she worked and she subconsciously snuggled herself in her chair a bit. As she continued to tap away at various articles from the earlier 2000’s she began to feel really relaxed. The systematic tapping of her nails on the keys accompanied by the soft lulling of the air conditioner caused Wendy’s eyes to slide closed. Without much warning, her head slowly crashed down onto her keyboard and she jolted up quickly.

‘Crap Wendy! Stay awake, stay awake!’ She repeated in her head and slapped herself lighting across the cheeks to stay alert. If anyone had seen her almost doze off on the job... she would’ve been done for. She had a reputation to keep and she didn’t want to seem like a slacker. If Detective Lee were to have seen.. Wendy gulped just thinking about it.

Dammit.. She had to get out of her office. It was way too peaceful in here for her liking. She needed to go somewhere loud and active. But where?

That’s when it hit her.

The cafe.

It was perfect. The constantly chatter of people in there always kept her on her feet, plus Seulgi might be working today and she could help her stay focused.  
And, of course, there was the possibility that she could run into a certain someone there.

With a sigh of determination, Wendy quickly gathered together her computer and a few books, and shoved them into her bag. She stole a glance at her watch and noticed that it was only 10:00 am so she had a lot of time to spare before the meeting with the precincts.  
Slingly her bag across her shoulder, Wendy pushed her chair under her desk, and happily exited her office. Next stop, the cafe.

 

* * *

 

Once she arrived, she stepped inside and was happy to see a few people seated. ‘Good, more people means more noise,’ she thought and decided to sit down at one of the booths today. She scanned the little shop to see if Seulgi was working and her eyes lit up when she saw her friend helping a customer a few feet away.  
When Seulgi had finished writing down their order, Wendy called out to her.

“Excuse me ma’am, I’d like to order!”

“Yes, of course, comi- Wendy!” Seulgi smiled as she walked over, happily taking a seat across from her in the booth, even though she was working. “What brings you here so early?”

“To be honest, I need some help staying focused.” Wendy said shyly.

“Oh, well sure thing! I can get a caffe americano started for you in a jiff!” She smiled and Wendy was a bit jealous of Seulgi’s enthusiasm so early in the morning.

“Yes, please, thank you.”

“Coming right up.” Seulgi scribbled down the order on her notepad. “Oh, but before I go get this, you need to spill everything about you and Bae unnie from the other night! I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t stop her from attacking you haha. She can be a bit ‘intimidating’.”

Wendy felt herself heat up a bit at the mention of her. “O-oh hah about that, well..”

Seulgi giggled knowly before telling Wendy to “save that thought” as she went to get her order.

Wendy wasn’t even sure what she was going to tell Seulgi. Had Bae not told her friends that she was going over to talk to her? Wendy shook her head. She didn’t have to think about this so hard. Nothing even happened between them. She had to focus on work anyways.. She figured she'd flip through a couple of books while she waited for her coffee.

“Here you go, I made sure it was extra strong just for you!” Seulgi winked before sitting back down across from Wendy.  
Wendy nodded kindly before taking a sip. ‘It’s so good!’ She thought and her brain was seriously thanking her.

“Now tell me!” Seulgi pushed excitedly, and Wendy felt nervous all over again, like butterflies were trying to murder the inside of her stomach.

“Okay okay.. Wait. What did B-Bae tell you?” She cursed herself for stuttering though Seulgi didn’t comment on it.

“Hmm well, she was acting pretty strange that night, stranger than usual. We were all suppose to hang out because I wanted them all to try the drinks here, but that didn’t really happen hah.”  
Wendy couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Seulgi continued.

“It lasted for a good minute though, before Bae randomly stood up and, without a word, walked over to you and sat down. This part wasn’t that weird, though, because unnie really likes girls haha. Should I’ve said that?”

Wendy smiled behind her coffee cup, suddenly forgetting about work.

“My friends and I thought it was a bit strange when she didn’t come back hah. We thought I’d be one of her quick little seducti- I mean hah, we just thought she’d be back quickly. Though we couldn’t really hear everything, Bae was seriously acting so much different..”

Wendy took note of this. It also made her blush.

“But yeah, when she came back to the booth, we were bugging her for questions about everything and she actually filled us in with a lot.. But I still wanna hear your perspective!!”

Wendy wanted to know what Bae had thought about her.. Had she seemed like a nervous loser or .. something more?

“Did.. Did she, ya know, like me?” Wendy asked, simultaneously regretting, and craving, the answer.

Seulgi smiled before holding a finger up to her lips. “I can’t tell you that!” and Wendy deflated as Seulgi laughed.

“Now tell me! Tell m- oh wait.” Seulgi finally became aware of Wendy’s computer and the many books that were scattered across the table. “Aha I forgot I was suppose to help you stay focused. Oops!”

In all honesty, Wendy had forgotten about the work too, though she was glad she wouldn’t have to explain what her and Bae talked about last night. Or at least she thought.

“I’ll let you get to work, but, make sure you text me everything as soon as you get off!!!” And before Wendy could protest, Seulgi had already bounded off towards another waiting customer to take their order.

Now Wendy had to stop thinking about Bae and focus back on her research. She just hoped coming to this cafe was a good decision.


	8. irene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! If you're a fan of this story, please go and show it some support on my Wattpad account @ polychromaticc! I entered it for the wattys2018 so I hope you will support me and thank you for reading!

Today was the day that Irene was going after Mr. Oh Ha Joon. She had already called in sick to work today, but was still dressed up in her librarian attire. Of course, this wasn't what she wanted to wear today, but she only did this to appear as if she was going to work so her roommates wouldn't ask any questions. She hated lying to the people she cared about, though it was for the best. It was better if they didn't know what she actually had planned for today.

"Well I guess I'm headed to work." Irene smiled as she walked out of her bedroom and across the kitchen to where all her roommates were seated.

"Have fun unnie!" Seulgi called back, happily taking a bite of her eggs.

"You look awfully happy for going to work at a library." Sooyoung questioned, looking up from her phone.

"Why be negative when I can be positive! Right Yerim.~" Irene glanced over at the youngest who was laying across the table and regretting going to school.

Yerim groaned and stuck her tongue out. "Whatever.." she mumbled and went back to playing whatever dumb game was on her phone.

"I agree with you unnie!" Seulgi said, giving Irene a thumbs up.

Irene reciprocated the thumbs up before quickly grabbing the car keys, as well as Sooyoung's warehouse key, and closed the door behind her.

 

* * *

 

Irene had already planned everything out for her little attack on Mr. Oh Han Joon. Since she had left a bit earlier this morning than usual, she would be able to catch the man leaving his house at the perfect time.

Currently, she was parked a bit away from her victims home on the side of the street. She had to bring the car today because there was no way she'd be able to bring his body to the warehouse without it.

Looking up at his home to see if he'd left yet, Irene couldn't help but roll her eyes at the lavishness of it all. His house was obnoxiously wealthy looking and the exterior was surrounded by fancy white marble columns and unnecessary archways. Each column was lined with hundreds of different types of flowers and there was a thick hedge connected to a gate that sectioned off his property. Just getting into his neighborhood was hard enough and Irene even had to seduce the guy working the gate at the entrance in order to let her in. 'How annoying..' she thought and looked at the front door of the house in case there was any movement.

Finally, the pig decided to leave the pen, dressed in an ugly navy blue pinstripe suit and yelling at someone on the phone. Everytime Irene had seen this man he had been yelling at someone.

But now, it was Irene's time to strike.  
Quickly and silently, she got out of her car before the man could even leave his driveway, and hid herself behind one of the thick lamp posts that covered the sidewalks. The man would most likely be making his way over to his car, which was parked a few spots down the road, and was thankfully out of sight from any of the windows in his house.

The one perk about targeting someone from a wealthy household, was that the 'neighbors' had a lot of space between their houses. That meant that the number of potential witnesses that Irene might have to deal with would be lower.

She was happy for the small victories.

She had brought a little bag with her that contained everything that she needed for the attack. One in particular, was a change of clothes so that she could distract him. Then she would attack him once he let his guard down.

No man had ever assumed Irene would be capable of incapacitating them and she laughed every time that she was successful. One of her tactics was to use her body to seduce the men into thinking she was just another thing to gawk at. She would flash her big brown eyes and put on the best performance of her life, and then strike once they least expected it.

And now, was the time for just that.

 

* * *

 

Her victim was walking towards her, still a bit preoccupied by his phone, that he didn't notice her hiding. She waited until he was just a few centimeters away, before she ran out from her hiding spot and walked right into him. She made sure to exaggerate her the fall, landing in a way that her panties would be exposed.

"Dammit what the hell!" The man shouted, having dropped his phone during the collision.

Now it was time for Irene's charm to do all the work. "Oh my! I'm so sorry, sir! Please forgive me.~" She looked up at him, making sure to bounce her cleavage in a way that would catch his attention.

"Ugh you- Oh, why hello there." The man's anger faded away instantly as his eyes went straight to her breasts.

'Disgusting.' Irene thought before looking up at him again, "I hope I didn't hurt you or anything.." She acted as if she actually felt bad and she wanted to gag when the man didn't even raise his gaze from her breasts to respond.

"No, no, it's all good. You're.. so good."

Irene rolled her eyes, slowly reaching one of her hands into her back pocket where she had a cloth doused in chloroform ready.

"Here, let me help you up." The man stretched a hand out towards her and Irene accepted it, even though she didn't want to touch him, at least, not this way. She'd be much happier when she could touch him with her blade.

When the man bent down to get her bag for her, Irene almost thought he'd catch a glimpse of what was inside, but thankfully he didn't.

"Sorry, again, for running into you." Irene acted as if she was all shy and polite. It would be all worth it soon.

"As I said earlier, it's okay." The man made eye contact with her for the first time since their incident, and Irene wondered if he had remembered her from the library.

Of course, he was too dense to connect the dots and even offered to walk Irene over to her car.

"Thank you so much, sir. I bet you're really busy so it means a lot that you're doing this for me."

"It's my pleasure." The man smirked admiring her ass as she ran ahead.

It was time.  
When they were both standing in front of her car, Irene pretended that she had gotten injured from their fall which had made her unable to stretch her arm too far, so she asked if he could place her bag into the car for her. He agreed, and Irene's innocent eyes become piercing as she quickly leaned over the man who was bent halfway into her car, before covering his mouth with the chloroform wipe.

He tried to fight back a bit, but Irene was holding too tight against him. He was all hers now.

After a few more seconds of smothering, he finally passed out and fell limp onto the back seats of her car.

Irene smiled, removing the wipe from his face, and shoved the rest of his legs inside the vehicle before slamming the door shut. She held tight a few seconds, surveying the area in case there were any witnesses, but she didn't see anyone.

'Perfect.' She thought as she opened the driver's side door and stuck her keys into the ignition. The car came to life with an electric buzz and Irene couldn't help but lick her lips when she stole a glance at the seat behind her. The only times she ever liked looking at a man was when they were either passed out or tied up.  
She was going to have so much fun at the warehouse with this one.~

She'd managed to steal the warehouse keys from Sooyoung without the other noticing and was hoping to visit a locksmith after her 'playtime' to get a copy of the key made.

But right now, she was ready to play.

 

* * *

 

The warehouse looked so appealing, having not been used for a short while, and was all nice and clean for her to use, thanks to a certain someone. There were people who worked for, and with, Irene who led normal lives like everyone else. Though they seemed like regular people, they were the ones you'd least expect to be behind the stage, pulling the strings. Irene was most thankful for them at times like this.

She had strapped her mask on and was currently tightening the ropes on her victims body. He was still passed out, though not for long, and his bare body was on display for Irene to touch every part of with her blade. Like most of her victims, she would strap them down against a table with rope making sure to bind their hands, legs, torso, lower abdomen, and neck to ensure no escaping. She had all of her favorite tools lined up on portable table behind her, ready for use at any moment. To name a few, she had a baseball bat, her favorite butcher knife, handcuffs, pliers, a syringe, and much more.

Before she could start though, she had to wake him up, and she knew just how to do it.  
Making sure her mask was still secure, Irene traced her fingernail slowly across the man's skin. She started at his cheek and slowly made her way down until she reached his stomach. She stopped at the place right above his belly button, and then turned around to grab one of her syringes. This one was empty and Irene pushed it all the way back so that it was ready for use.

Now for the fun part.  
In one swift motion, Irene tightly gripped onto the syringe and swung it backwards, before shoving the needle deep into her victim's flesh.

The man's eyes shot open instantly and a loud scream tore its way through his throat.

Music to Irene's ears.~

After a good few seconds of screaming, Irene ripped the syringe straight out, and when the man tensed, she leaned in close.

"You done yet?"

The man flinched and moved a bit under his bindings.  
"Wha-What the hell! What the fuck is happening?!"

Irene smiled behind her mask.  
She turned away, flicking her long hair in his face as she did so. Time for the show. "Welcome to my fun house!" She cheered and held a finger up to the head of her bunny mask.

"What the fuck! You crazy bitch, what the hell did you do to me!"

Irene laughed at his outburst and then grabbed her butcher knife from the table, holding it close to her back. She spun around on her heel and waved one arm in the air, the one holding the knife was still behind her back.

"I'm going to have lots of fun with you today, you should be excited!"

"HELP! Get me the hell out of here!" The man screamed, though no one could hear his pleas.

"Mr. Oh Ha Joon, you ar-"

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?! Is this some kind of prank!" the man cut her off and Irene twitched behind her mask.

"You should really learn to listen when a beautiful woman is speaking." Irene hummed before shoving a gag into the man's mouth.  
His retort was lost in a jumble of incoherent nonsense.

"Now, as I was saying before," Irene walked across the room, slowly flicking the blade of her knife behind her back with her nail. "You are the chosen one! Isn't that exciting! I chose you, out of any other man!"

The man wasn't listening to her, though, he was too busy trying to wiggle his way out of his bondage.

"Oh Mr. Joon. When I first saw you I knew that you would be perfect!" The man stopped struggling at those words and looked up at her, confused.

"Hahahaha ah, that's right! You don't know who I am, do you?"

The man shook his head.

"Wow, did I really hit you that hard.. hmm well there's no point in wearing this now." She said and used her one hand to undo the strap of her mask.

"Tada!" She cheered once her mask had fallen to the floor below, and the man's eyes widened.

"Remember me now? We actually met twice, though, I 'wasn't much to look at' then." She winked, quoting what he'd said about her the first time. "I was a 5 then, but do you think I'm a 9 now? ahahaha~"

The man finally connected the dots and began struggling with his ropes again, mumbling behind the gag in his mouth.

"Fine, fine, I'll remove this for now, but only if you promise to be a good little boy.~"  
Her victim nodded and Irene smiled.

"Alright, but let me put this down first.~" she hummed, revealing the knife that she had kept at her backside. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man shiver at the size of it. Irene placed the knife gently on the table that her victim was laying on, and scoffed.

"What, sweetie? Jealous that I'm more hung than you?" Irene joked and the man mumbled under his gag.

"Wait wait, hold that thought! I'm removing the gag now. Gosh, men really don't have any patience.." she sighed and moved to unhook the gag from his mouth. It was currently covered in his slobber and Irene gave him a look of disgust before yanking it off of him.

The man exhaled at the release, quickly trying to catch his breath, and Irene impatiently tapped the table with her nail.

"y-you.." the man struggled, "the girl at the library.."

Irene clapped, mockingly. "Yes, good job! You actually remembered me."  
"I was surprised you would... you seem like the type of person who is so far up their own ass to pay attention to anyone other than themself. Not to mention the way you were screaming at me and ignoring every word I said because you just couldn't spare a second of your 'valuable time' to listen to the person trying to help you." Irene tsked, wagging her finger around as she circled the man, like a wolf about to strike its prey. "Well, forced to help you, that is." Irene added, with a wink.

The man's eyes widened and he looked like he was about to say something before Irene cut him off.  
"Now, remember how I said we met twice?"

The man remained still.  
"I thought you said you'd be a good boy? Answer!" Irene yelled, swinging her hand back as if you was going to slap him. Before she could, he gave in and nodded his head.

"Good! Now, think really really hard. It might be a bit tricky for you since I can tell you don't really use your brain much, huh?"

The man swallowed and concentrated on Irene who was waving at him now. Where had he seen her before?

That's when this morning's events came rushing back to him, and the man mumbled out, "th-the car."

"Yes!" Irene exclaimed, "The car. My car! You 'helped' little ole me to my car!"  
"Tell me, what were you expecting to happen after that chivalrous deed, huh? Were you expecting this? Certainly not. Maybe you were expecting we'd pound one out in the back seat and go our separate ways?"

The man averted his eyes.

"What a joke.." Irene said, staring deep into his eyes, watching him squirm.

"W-Why me?" he finally choked out.

"Why you? Why. You." Irene repeated, playing with the words in her mouth. The answer was so obviously to her, yet this man was acting as if he was the most innocent man on the planet.  
Though, even Irene knew that there was no such thing.

"I'm bored of talking to you." Irene sighed and walked over to pick up her knife again. This action made the man antsy and he started anticipating what was to come.

"P-please. I'll do anything.."

"That's enough." Irene said, knife in hand, "There's nothing you could possibly say or do to convince me that you don't deserve this." Irene was sitting on top of him now. Her knife held tightly between her hands.

The man started to shake a bit under her and Irene smiled. She loved reducing a seemingly 'strong' man down to nothing.

"Oh, and one more thing. I really do feel sorry for the poor woman who was stuck married to you all this time. I also pity your daughter. Though I don't know them personally, I can see that she was married to a horrible man and the other grew up with a horrible father. At least with you gone, they can both be free and your wife can find someone better."

The man swallowed and held his breath.

Irene leaned down to his face one last time, "Goodbye, Mr. Joon.~" she whispered and swung her knife back, stabbing it deep into the man's chest.


	9. irene (ft. wendy)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to go support this fic on wattpad too, @polychromaticc! Thanks for reading and enjoy

**TRIGGER WARNING (BLOOD)/MATURE CONTENT WARNING!!! but there's also cute fluff hehe**

 

 

* * *

 

Blood sprayed upwards onto Irene and she laughed at the choked expression on her victim's face. He was shaking, his eyes wide and mouth agape. Blood trickled its way down his mouth and he coughed, causing a spray of it to hit Irene. Instead of her being disgusted by it, she licked her lips and went in for more. The man tried to mutter something, but Irene couldn't hear anything now. She swung her knife back again and then straight down, metal hitting flesh, over and over and over and over and over and over!   
  
Her ears were ringing and she was laughing, but she couldn't stop stabbing. The man below her was surly gone by now, but she couldn't contain herself. She was hungry and thirsty all at the same time.   
  
Again and again she kept hitting his flesh, all to her heart's content. She almost didn't think she'd be able to stop herself until she heard a familiar, yet muffled, voice from far away. In the moment though, she thought nothing of it, the ringing in her ears was too loud and Irene didn't want to stop _playing_ .   
  
She might've gone a little mad, yet she didn't care. _This_ was all that mattered.

Suddenly, the voice from before got louder and Irene felt a woman's hands wrap around her body. She was restricted a bit now, though still tried to stab the man one more time. Just one more. She needed to do it once more.  
  
The woman squeezed her and whispered into her ear. "Bae, it's time to drop the knife." she said, voice calm and unafraid.   
  
Irene tried to turn her head, but the woman wouldn't let her. She cupped her hands around Irene's, causing her to drop her knife, and the ringing began to dim.   
  
With her knife gone and the urge to kill slowly vanishing, Irene _really_ looked down at her victim for the first time since she starting stabbing. His entire chest and face were a bloody mess to the point where his body would be unrecognizable should authorities ever find him.   
  
Irene sighed, leaning back into the arms around her. "I'm sorry," She giggled behind her hand, "I must've gotten carried away."   
  
The girl behind her sighed. "Bae.. Come on let's get you off of him now."

When Irene had stepped down from the table, and off of the bloody corpse, she turned around to see Taeyeon.  
  
"You made such a mess, Bae, and I'd just cleaned this all up since your last time." She tsked and flicked Irene in the head.   
  
"Ow, unnie!" She exclaimed, rubbing her forehead. She was covered in her victims blood from head to toe and Taeyeon looked at her with sigh before throwing a towel at her. "Go wash up."   
  
"Ah, thank you." Irene hummed as she began scrubbing off her face a bit.   
  
"Does Sooyoung know about this?" Taeyeon questioned seeing as Sooyoung hadn't been outside like usual.   
  
Irene ignored the question as she continued to clean herself up.

"Fine. Don't tell me." Taeyeon crossed her arms, "But you should really take a shower. I'll clean this up for you."   
  
"Thank you, unnie.~" Irene smiled, her face was relatively clean now, though blood still clung to her clothes and hair like a spider on a web.   
  
"Oh, so now you respond." Taeyeon mumbled under her breath, but Irene hadn't heard, at least, she didn't act as if she heard. Taeyeon watched as Irene walked away, leaving bloody footprints on the tile floor as she went.   
  
As soon as the girl was out of earshot, Taeyeon whipped her phone out from her back pocket and dialed Sooyoung's number. Her finger hovered over the call button as she contemplated calling her about Irene. After a couple seconds of thinking it over, she decided against it. She was loyal to Irene, plus she had to clean this all up anyways. Maybe she'd tell Sooyoung later.

Suddenly, Taeyeon heard a phone ringing. Thinking she somehow had accidentally called Sooyoung, she looked down, but it wasn't the phone in her hand that was ringing, it was the phone of the dead man who was laying on the table.

  
"Shit." she said aloud, as she made her way over to the corpse to find the source of the ringing.   
  
His phone was buried somewhere deep in his pocket and Taeyeon really didn't feel like sticking her hand inside a dead guy, but she had to. She didn't want whoever was calling him to get suspicious and somehow track the guy's phone to this warehouse. She would need to dispose of it properly.   
  
She reached her hand into his right pant pocket first, but only ended up finding a piece of gum a few coins. Sighing, she stepped her way across the puddles of blood on the floor and searched his other pocket. It was still ringing and she felt the vibrations coming from the phone once she'd placed her hand around its frame.

 _Great. Now to get rid of it._   
  
She wasn't the best at trying to disable phone trackers, however. Her expertise was with cleaning, so she would have to bring in _her_ to do it later. Taeyeon knew _she_ wouldn't mind since she'd done things like this for Irene before, but what Taeyeon didn't understand was why Irene was so adamant on not talking about her .   
  
But, instead of focusing on that right now, Taeyeon placed the phone in her pocket and went back to cleaning up Irene's mess. She was hoping to talk to Irene about her 'little stab frenzy' after her shower too, though she had a feeling that the other wouldn't be too keen on discussing it.

With a huff, Taeyeon got back to work, scrubbing her sponge across the vast tile floor.

 

* * *

 

The shower was hot and steamy, just like Irene liked it.  
  
The water beneath her feet ran red, and to anyone else, it would've looked like she had been shot. Though, we all knew it wasn't her blood that she was scrubbing off.   
  
The spray of water from the shower head above trickled down her body in warm droplets that hugged her frame from the minute it made contact with her skin.   
  
She watched as the droplets that coated the shower door fell down in little turrets, like dew drops on a morning leaf. Irene traced her finger along the glass, subconsciously painting a picture with the water.   
  
Without thinking, she'd written the letter J,   
  
followed by an O,   
  
and finally, a Y. 

J O Y.

 _Sooyoung._ Joy.

  
  
"Dammit." Irene swore under her breath, and put her head down so the water was now hitting the back of her neck and falling down from the strands of her hair.   
  
Had she made a mistake in killing this man today?   
  
No. He deserved.   
  
_Right?_ Yes. Yes, he did.   
  
Irene felt strange.   
  
She felt.. _guilty_. Not for the man but, for disobeying Sooyoung. She'd promised her friend that she'd stop killing for a while and lay low, yet she couldn't even keep that promise for a whole day.

Irene punched her fist against the shower tiles, hard, and she looked down at the red water surrounding her feet. Her long black hair clung to her back and she watched as the bloody water circled the drain below.

With a sigh, she lifted her head back up.   
  
Why did she feel so down? She was usually really happy after she killed another _disgusting_ man, yet.. Sooyoung.   
  
She felt like a shitty friend.   
  
Plus, she couldn't stop thinking about how Taeyeon had to step in while she was killing. She didn't want to think about how she had lost control of herself in that moment and how easy it was for her to keep stabbing. It made her shudder at the thought of it. She really hoped Taeyeon wouldn't bring it up..   
  
Irene didn't know how long she'd been showering for, but when the water finally started to run clear, she stepped out of the steam. Taeyeon had laid out a change of clothes for her, for which she was thankful, and Irene got dressed quickly before leaving. She stopped by a mirror on the way out and when she turned her head to look at herself, she was frowning. Her eyes looked distant in the mirror, instead of their usual sparkle, and Irene quickly shook her head and turned away.   
  
_'Pull yourself together, Bae.'_ She told herself, _'Everything is going to be fine.'_

With a huff, Irene looked back at the mirror, and forced a smile. She then quickly reapplied her lipstick before pushing through the doors and walking back out towards the warehouse area. She wondered if Taeyeon was still cleaning up her mess, but she hoped she had finished and wasn't there anymore since Irene didn't want to talk about anything. But of course, Taeyeon was sat waiting for her. Just her luck.  
  
"Welcome back." Taeyeon called out, sitting on the table that was previously occupied by Mr. Joon's body. Irene looked down and saw a body bag a few feet away. Oh.   
  
"Taeyeon unnie." She nodded and put on her best smile. "Thank you for cleaning up after me, like always." She smiled and walked over to her friend.   
  
"It's no problem at all. Oh, but Bae," Taeyeon started and Irene dreaded what she was going to say, "I found this."   
  
Irene cocked her head in confusion, and Taeyeon tossed a phone in her direction.   
  
"A phone? You already have my phone number silly." Irene teased and Taeyeon looked up at her sternly.   
  
"Not mine. His." She said, motioning to the bag.

"Oh right. I forgot he had this.." Irene hummed.  
  
"You know that I can't dispose of this without _her_ , right?" Taeyeon said, jumping off from the table to walk over to Irene.   
  
"No, we don't need Sooyoung to do this. It's fine, I'll take care of it." Irene insisted with a smile and Taeyeon shook her head.   
  
"Bae, why don't you want Sooyoung's help? Did you get into a fight or something?"   
  
"No, no, of course not. Nothing like that." She reassured and it was true. They hadn't 'fought' about anything.

"Okay.. then why don't you want Sooyoung's help?"  
  
"I.." Irene started, trying to think of another answer to give her rather than saying 'Oh well Sooyoung and I made a 'promise' where I would stop killing so much, so frequently, but would you look at that! I already broke that promise, so I would really like her to not find out about this ever happening! Alright. Okay. Great!'   
  
Instead, Irene said this, "I just don't wanna get her mixed up with all this bad stuff hah. She has a normal life to live anyways and it's selfish of me to take her away from that because _I_ happen to be a bit sadistic."   
  
Taeyeon gave her a look before nodding and accepting the answer. "I guess, but you do know that I have a normal life too."   
  
"Oh of course, unnie! But, I know you love helping me so it all works out!" Irene said with a wink and Taeyeon just smirked back.   
  
"Whatever. Just make sure you take care of that phone, okay?"   
  
"Yes, _mom_!" Irene teased before waving goodbye and making her way towards the back doors of the warehouse.”

 

* * *

 

When Irene finally made it outside, she sighed in relief that Taeyeon hadn't brought up her 'losing control' earlier. She was glad she could find a way to be happy about something.

Irene looked up at the clouds in the sky and noticed that it was still bright and fresh out. Maybe only a few hours had passed since her encounter with Mr. Joon earlier and she guessed it was around noon. She honestly had no idea what she was going to do for the rest of the day since the only thing that was on her agenda was to '1.) Kill Oh Ha Joon,' and she did that.

She kicked a pebble on the sidewalk as she mindlessly walked around. She had some time to kill before having to go back to the apartment, though she couldn't go too soon or else Sooyoung might be there to question why she wasn't at work. Irene figured that she'd just walk around for a while until she could sneak back into the apartment unseen, and pretend like she was let off early from work.

As she was walking, she couldn't help but let her mind drift back to meeting Wendy. Ever since that night, Irene kicked herself for not giving her her phone number. She didn't want to let Wendy slip out of her grasp so easily.

When there was a someone that Irene craved so badly that she wouldn't stop thinking about that person, she would get what she wanted in the end no matter what. Whether it be a cute girl to invest all her love and time on, or a man to play with at the warehouse, Irene would get what she wanted.

Somehow with Wendy though, Irene wondered if things would be different. She still didn't even know if Wendy had feelings for her anyways, so she might just be chasing after another friendship for no reason.

Irene liked having friends, but she just wanted something _more_. After killing that man today, Irene had been in a strange mood. Maybe she was starting to feel unsatisfied? Maybe she was tired of the life she was living? Maybe she just needed a breath of fresh air.

Instead of a breath of fresh air, however, Irene was met with a sharp, quick, inhale when she spotted a certain someone in a certain cafe across the street. She stopped walking to do a double take through the glass door.

 

It was her. It was Wendy.

_'Oh my God.'_

 

While Irene had been walking, she'd somehow ended up on the same street that Seulgi worked on and was now standing a few feet away from the coffee shop that she'd met Wendy in the night before.

She seriously wasn't expecting to ever see Wendy again unless Seulgi ever brought her around the apartment, though she never had before, and Irene was honestly surprised.

She got a better look at 'that certain someone' when a stranger walked into the cafe and held the door open so Irene was able to look inside for a few seconds. She felt a bit like a stalker, standing across the street and staring into a coffee shop door, but just seeing Wendy sitting at one of the booths made Irene excited.

Her mood had seriously done a 180 since this morning and she guessed "God" was on her side for once.

Irene fixed her hair up a little and smoothed out her clothes, before making her way across the street. She was going to see Wendy again!

The air was crisp against Irene's face when she placed her hand on the handle of the shop and pulled it open.

 _'Here goes nothing.'_ She thought as she stepped inside.

Irene had a much better view of Wendy now and she was glad to confirm that it actually was her instead of her mind playing tricks on her. She smiled in excitement and was about to make her way over to the booth before she was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Bae unnie! Wait, what are you doing here?"

Irene turned around.

"Oh, Seulgi. Hey!" Irene smiled and pulled her friend into a hug.

"Hi? Bae, what are you doing here ahah." Seulgi said, currently being squeezed by Irene.

"Well, I thought I'd stop by and see my favorite roommate!" She hummed and patted Seulgi on the head, who quickly swatted it away.

"Ah Bae! I'm working oh my gosh." She fumbled and straightened herself up again.

"What, so I can't stop by and see you work? Gosh you're so mean Seul!" Irene pouted and Seulgi sighed.

"You know that's not what I meant. I'm glad you're here, unnie."

"Much better.~" Irene said and she was about to turn around to go sit with Wendy, before Seulgi grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" Seulgi said, with a knowing smile.

"What? I'm just gonna go sit down. This is a coffee shop with _seating_ , right?" Irene winked and made her way to turn around before Seulgi grabbed her arm again.

"Cut it out, Bae. I know you want to sit with Wendy."

"Yep!" Irene said blatantly, and Seulgi blinked.

She tried to walk over to Wendy once again, but Seulgi grabbed her with two arms this time.

"Oh my god Seul, what?" She whined, having been continually grabbed by her friend so many times in the past minute.

"I can't let you go over there. Sorry.." Seulgi said, pulling Irene aside to sit at a different table a bit farther away.

"What? Why?”

"Look at her, Bae."

"Well I've been trying to but you keep pulling me away." Irene mumbled before glancing behind her.

"See all the books and stray papers?" Seulgi said and Irene nodded.

"Okay, so she likes to read. So what?"

"Ah gosh Bae, you can be so oblivious sometimes.. She's clearly working right now!"

Irene looked over again and saw Wendy flipping through a book like she wasn't even reading the words, just scanning the pages, and then started to scroll through the computer next to her.

"Look," Seulgi said, facing her unnie once again. "Wendy is my friend and she came in here a bit earlier to get some work done. She told me she had some trouble focusing and that she needed somewhere to work, so there she is." Seulgi paused. "I don't even think she went home last night. Or the night before."

Irene looked back over again to get better look at the girl. She looked stressed and Irene felt the same little twinge in her heart from the other day.

"So, can you do me and favor and not distract her. Okay? For me?" Seulgi pleaded and Irene sighed.

"Fine fine, I won't do anything.." she said and Seulgi cheered before a customer called her over and she had to leave Irene at the table.

"I won't _do_ anything, but it doesn't mean that I still won't just go _sit_ next to her. No harm there." Irene smiled, standing up from her table to go over to the booth.

Without a word, Irene sat down, straight across from Wendy.

After a few seconds Irene wasn't even sure if Wendy had noticed that she was there, because she'd made no indication. She was still adamantly reading through the pages of a book on the table in front of her.

Irene watched as Wendy's eyes darted across the page, and being so close to her now, Irene couldn't help but notice how tired she actually looked. There were a couple of empty coffee cups sitting on the table, along with a bunch of scattered books and papers. Irene had no idea what Wendy was working on so closely, but she decided that the girl probably needed a break from all of this boring work stuff, so she decided to make her presence known.

"Wendyyy~" She whispered, but the girl was too concentrated on her book to hear her.

Irene smiled and tried again, a bit louder this time. "Heyyy Wendyy~" Irene hummed and finally caught Wendy's attention who physically jumped when she noticed Irene had been sitting there this whole time.

"Hmm- OH MY GOD!" Wendy gasped, a bit too loud, and a couple of people in the shop turned their heads at the noise. Seulgi was one of them, and she sent Irene a look before going back to her customer.

"Sorry.." Wendy mumbled to the customers before turning to face the cause of her outburst. "B-Bae? Wha- how long have you been there?" Wendy exhaled, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh, not too long. I was enjoying the view, though." Irene teased, watching how easily Wendy blushed at the comment.

"O-oh.. sorry I was just looking over these textbooks hah, and I probably look like a mess right now." Wendy said, closing the book in front of her, shyly.

"I think you look super cute." Irene said instead, "It must've been destiny that we ended up here again." She winked. "Wendy." Irene spoke again, voice soft yet firm at the same time.

"Y-yes, Bae." Wendy stuttered, daring to look up at Irene who was smiling at her reassuringly.

"As you've probably noticed, I can be a pretty direct person."

Wendy nodded with a laugh. "Yes I have."

Irene smiled and continued, "Well, since I happen to be so direct, I can also be pretty dense and forgetful at times. To be specific, there was something I forgot to ask you last night."

Wendy tilted her head in confusion but was eager nonetheless.

"I just, I wanted to ask you.. for your number, if that's alright?"

 

Wendy was a bit taken aback and blushed at the realization. _'Someone like Irene actually wanted to contact her?'_

"Y-yes o-of course you can!" Wendy stuttered, maybe a bit _too_ eagerly, as she quickly fumbled through her bag to retrieve her phone.

Irene giggled behind her hand at Wendy's clumsiness.

 

* * *

 

"Thanks a bunch." Irene said with a wink after they finished exchanging information, "Make sure to text me everyday!"

Wendy nodded before leaning back in her seat. "Of course." She said and Irene watched as Wendy stifled a yawn behind her hand before smiling back up at Irene.

Irene felt her heart skip a beat.

Wendy looked like the cutest, softest little puppy right now and she honestly couldn't handle it!

Irene continued to watch as Wendy went back to researching and Irene was content in just sitting there in silence. She found it really intriguing how dedicated Wendy was to her work and Irene almost thought that she reminded her of herself, though Wendy was much more admirable than her. Irene couldn't help but think about what Wendy would think of her if she ever found out who she really was. She pouted at the thought and shook her head to drive away the bad thoughts.

Instead, Irene pulled out her phone and opened up her Messages app to shoot Wendy her first text message:

 

 **Bae Joohyun:** Hey, it's the girl from the coffee shop ;-)

 

Irene smiled behind her phone and sent the text. "Hey, I sent you someth-" Irene started, but stopped when she looked up and realized that Wendy had fallen asleep, peacefully snoozing with her cheek pressed against the open book in front of her.

 _'Oh my gosh! Cute.'_ Irene thought instantly, as she leaned in closer and listened to the soft sounds of Wendy's breathing.

Irene was not expecting this, yet the first thing that came to mind was that she _had_ to take a picture of her to set as the contact picture on her phone.

Irene had only known Wendy for a short while, but there was _no way_ that she'd pass up the opportunity to see her looking so cute like this. So, she pulled up the camera app on her phone and took a bunch of pictures of Wendy's sleeping face against the harsh white paper of the book she was resting on.

She looked so surreal that Irene wanted to squeal.

She must've been too caught up in admiring Wendy, that she didn't even notice Seulgi walk up next to her.

"Oh my gosh, unnie! Stop!" Seulgi whispered and snatched Irene's phone away from her.

"What! She looks too cute.~" Irene protested, and Seulgi shushed her.

"Don't you dare wake her up. I told you not to disturb her."

"Oh, is that a threat Seulgiii?" Irene teased and Seulgi hit her lightly. "Okay, okay I know. I want her to rest too." She said and Seulgi smiled.

"Okay good, so let her be, please."

"She works too hard." Irene said, instead and Seulgi nodded.

"You're right." She whispered before placing down a coffee in front of Irene. "I got you this by the way. Free of charge, since last time you ditched us." She nudged.

"Thank you Seul~." Irene winked and Seulgi rolled her eyes before glancing over at Wendy again and walking over to the counter.

Irene sipped at her drink, enjoying the sweet, yet bitter, taste of the coffee beans. When she placed the cup down, her eyes went straight to Wendy again. There was something about the girl that just drew Irene in, like a bee to a flower. She just always wanted to be looking at Wendy, no matter what. Maybe she felt as if she was too good to be true and would somehow disappear should Irene take her eyes off of her for even a split second.

Irene crossed her arms over the table and placed her head in between them so that she was sitting like Wendy. Maybe she just selfishly wanted to be closer to the girl. Closer than before.

With a smile she decided to open up the Messages app on her phone again. She was going to send Wendy a bunch of texts that she could read later when she was more conscious, because why not! Irene was feeling nice today.

 

 **Bae Joohyun:** Gosh Wendy, you really are so so cute!

 

 **Bae Joohyun:** I wonder what you're dreaming about..

 

Irene was about to send "I hope you're dreaming about me" but quickly erased it.

 

 **Bae Joohyun:** Whenever you see these messages, you should call me!! I wanna get to know you better hehe~~

 

 

Irene set her phone down and took another sip of her coffee.

She watched as Wendy's phone buzzed on the table which caused the girl to stir a bit by the noise. Irene saw as Wendy unconsciously stretched her hand out, lightly brushing it against Irene's.

Irene held her breath.

Their hands were barely touching now, and Irene didn't want to move and ruin the moment, so she lightly set her cup down and moved her fingers closer to Wendy's.

She traced her index finger against Wendy's skin in awe at how the girl's fingers twitched from the touch, and she unconsciously grasped on to Irene's hand before sighing in content.

Irene smiled. They were holding hands, and Irene felt soft.

She'd never gotten this excited by simply holding another person's hand before, yet her heart was pounding so much at the small action.

Irene shook her head. _'Was she seriously this whipped for Wendy already?'_

Choosing to ignore her feelings for now, Irene was happy to just hold Wendy's hand, even though the other wasn't aware she was doing it, and just watch her sleep.

A part of her selfishly hoped that this moment would last forever.


	10. wendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to go support this fic on wattpad too, @polychromaticc! Thanks for reading and enjoy

Warm. Everything was warm.

Wendy was content, and a warm sensation filled her amidst the darkness. She didn't remember why it was so dark, but in the moment, she didn't care. She liked this feeling and hoped it would last forever.

But, like always, most good things can't last forever.

 

* * *

 

There was a loud clatter outside of the darkness, and Wendy quickly opened her eyes with a jolt. Everything was bright now, and kind of blurry, but when she refocused her eyes, she realized that she was in a coffee stop.

She had her head resting against something hard and she noticed that a few feet away, a waitress had dropped a tray of plates and silverware all across the floor.

Slowly, Wendy lifted her head up from the table and went to stretch her arms, but realized she couldn't because she was holding on to something.

Or, someone?

"Welcome back." A soft, velvety voice spoke up and Wendy traced her groggy eyes from her intertwined hand to the source of the noise.

Looking up, she saw Bae Joohyun smiling down at her.

Her heart started to beat faster as she realized what had happened.

Suddenly Wendy was blushing like a nervous idiot and she quickly let go of Irene's hand and looked away. She noticed Irene pout at the action.

"W-What.. I-.." Wendy trailed off, not really sure what to say, and her cheeks burned like crazy. Irene giggled at her from across the table, but Wendy was too embarrassed to look up at her.

Still looking down, Wendy bowed her head in apology. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep... I..." Wendy shook her head and looked up, Irene was still smiling at her.

Her heart skipped a beat when they made eye contact, just like it had the first time they met.

"You don't have to apologize, Wendy~~~" Irene cooed. "This was a good first date." She winked and Wendy's eyes widened.

She was blushing even more than she thought was possible and she looked away, unable to keep eye contact with Irene. 'D-date?' Wendy thought, before she became aware of all the books in front of her and soon realized what had happened.

"Wha-What time is it?!" She rushed, quickly looking up, and Irene calmly pulled out her cellphone.

"It's 2:13 pm, why?" She asked with a hum and Wendy stood up, urgently.

"Crap, crap, crap!" She said and started frantically closing all the books that she had opened on the table and shoved them into her bag. Irene looked up at her, confused yet amused at the same time.

"Woah, slow down there."

"I-I can't. Oh my god... I'm such an idiot..." Wendy was panicking now and she struggled to clip the latch on her bag closed.

"Why are you an idiot?" Irene asked, calm as ever. A complete contrast to Wendy.

"I'm late. I-I'm late for an important meeting." She was still trying to close her bag shut and Irene giggled before leaning across the table to steady her hands.

"Here you go." She hummed, closing the bag for her, and Wendy held her breath.

"T-thank you, but, I'm sorry. I-I have to go now." She bowed and Irene smirked.

"Alright, but you better promise me another date tomorrow." She winked, "Maybe with more talking this time." and Wendy, not really hearing the question, answered quickly.

"Yes, of course, another date!" She rushed, a bit too loudly, and quickly hurried out of the shop door, not really paying attention to what she'd just agreed too. She was too focused on trying to make it back to the precinct.

She was already going to be late, so she quickly tried to pull herself together and look presentable for when she had to walk into that conference room. She was also expecting a stern talking to from the Chief about her tardiness, which she was prepared for, but she hated being reprimanded. Wendy was the type of person who strived to be reliable and consistent at all times. She hated feeling unprepared or disorganized in her job, which is why she was also the top of her class in school and was even considered a 'teacher's pet' growing up. She wasn't embarrassed by things like that, though, because she wanted to succeed and be as perfect as she could possibly be.

That's why Wendy couldn't help but kick herself for losing her guard when she was around Bae Joohyun.

She shook her head as she crossed the street. She didn't need to think about anything that had just happened with Bae right now. The only thing that mattered was getting to her meeting, and soon.

She was only a few feet away from the building, yet she pulled her phone out anyways to check the time. Instead of checking it, however, Wendy noticed a bunch of messages from one 'Bae Joohyun' in her phone and she scrolled down to see them all.

She seriously couldn't escape this girl even if she wanted to.

Wendy couldn't help but blush as she read as much of the messages as she could from the text previews. She'd have to remember to respond to them later.

Since she was distracted by her phone, Wendy wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, and she accidentally ran into someone on the sidewalk.

She fell down with a thud and dropped her bag from the collision.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir." She said as she looked up to see a man dressed in all black and wearing thick matching sunglasses. The man hadn't even budged from where he was standing when she'd walked into him, and his feet were still planted firm on the sidewalk. Wendy didn't even think that he'd realized that someone had ran into him just now.

When he didn't respond, Wendy nodded and shyly picked up her bag. She was about to walk away towards her building, but the man grabbed onto her arm. She was a bit taken aback at how strong his grip was on her, and she was about to say something, before he handed her a flyer.

"Contact this number if you see this man." He said, in a thick, gruff voice and Wendy couldn't do anything but nod.

He let go of her arm and silently walked away.

Wendy shivered at the weird vibes that she got from that interaction, and she looked down at the paper he had given her. In large print, the flyer said as follows:

'MISSING: Have You Seen This Man?'

Wendy read the words carefully and then looked down at the picture printed beneath it.

It was a picture of a man, described as being around 5' 8'', with dark brown hair and matching eyes. Wendy had personally never seen that man before, but she guessed he was someone important since they'd already had flyers made when he had only been missing for a few hours. She questioned if these were police sanctioned flyers or not since she hadn't heard anything about this man at work.

Regardless, she continued to walk as she skimmed through the flier and made a mental note that the missing person's name was:

'Oh Ha Joon.'

Wendy folded the flyer and shoved it into her bag. She wasn't sure if she'd ever need it again, but just in case, she could bring it up during the meeting in case the missing person was somehow connected to the Pink Rabbit. At least, she would if she actually ended up getting to the meeting.

Thankfully she wasn't too far away now, and she quickly pushed through the front doors of the building after a few more minutes of speed walking. Once inside, she figured that she couldn't wait for the elevator, so she quickly ran up the stairs, being careful not to drop anything, and finally made it to the right floor.

She took a deep breath before walking into the precinct, trying to convince herself that she was calm and confident. Looking around, a lot of people were just sitting at their desks, working and minding their own business, and Wendy was glad that no one knew where she was suppose to be.

Wendy stole a glance at the clock on the wall and realized that it was closer to 2:30 pm now.

Sighing, she quickly made her way over to the conference room door.

 

* * *

 

To say Wendy was nervous was an understatement. She was seriously regretting walking into the room, because she knew that her being late would leave a bad impression of herself on the other precinct. Part of her almost decided to just book it straight home and make up an excuse as to why she couldn't be there, but she knew she couldn't do that. If she did, she'd probably miss out on a lot of important information from this meeting, plus she'd already commited to being a member of this team. No backing out because things got hard.

Wendy could hear muffled voices speaking amongst one another through the wood of the door, and she braced herself for the inevitable awkwardness that her walking in late would bring.

Taking another deep breath, Wendy pushed open the doors. All heads turned to her as she bowed shyly and tried to maneuver her way around the dark room to find a seat.

"Glad you could finally join us, Wendy." Chief Namjoon spoke up first and Wendy was a bit taken aback at the lack of hostility in his words, given the situation.

Wendy nodded and she noticed the other precincts Chief was watching her too. She'd never seen that Chief before, but he was much older than her, which was evident by his dark grey locks, and he looked very intimating. The symbol on his chest showed that he was from the Jongno police station.

Choosing to ignore his piercing gaze for now, Wendy went to find a seat and was happy to see the familiar face of Officer Hani waving towards her.

Before she could get to the seat, however, a boot came out to block her path.

"Why so late, Wendy~?" The owner of the boot spoke in a mocking voice, and Wendy rolled her eyes when she knew exactly whose voice it was.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Detective Jong." Wendy said curtly, and the detective scoffed, refusing to let her pass.

Wendy was getting tired of this detective and she didn't want to cause a scene since she'd just walked in late, so she simply stepped over his leg without a word.

"Wendy, hello!" Hani greeted her warmly, and Wendy plopped down in the seat next to her. "Just ignore Detective Jong, by the way. He seems like a jerk, but he means well. Trust me."

Wendy cocked her head at this.

"He means well? Then why is always a jerk to me only?" Wendy shook her head, "And hello Hani, I plan to ignore him anyways." Wendy smiled but was quickly hushed when the Chief from Jongno spoke up. Hani shared a sympathetic look with Wendy before turning to look at Detective Jong who met her eye contact. He smiled kindly at her and Hani looked away, hoping Wendy hadn't noticed.

"As I was saying earlier," the Jongno Chief spoke up, "We have uncovered a total of at least 17 bodies that are all the direct victims of the Pink Rabbit killings. We aren't sure of the killer's exact victim count, but we do know this. The number doesn't stop at 17. It'll only get higher from here," the Chief paused, "unless we put an end to this."

Chief Namjoon nodded in agreement, his familiar 'stone cold and professional' face was on show. He pointed to the presentation behind them before speaking.

"The killer tends to only hunt in these general areas." He said before gesturing to the large map of South Korea that was now being displayed on the screen. "Seoul seems to be where a majority of the killing occur, but the killer does spread them out a fair amount across the entirety of Korea. We have been able to pinpoint the homes of the victims who were identifiable in hopes to find a common ground between where the points diverge. In doing so, we hope to uncover the exact place where The Rabbit kills."

Wendy scanned the screen adamantly and was reminded of the flyer that she'd kept snug in her bag. She wondered if the Oh Ha Joon person could be an eighteen victim.

The Jongno Chief nodded. "This next screen will be quite graphic to those sensitive to gore, but it is something that you all must familiarize yourselves with should you continue on as a team member."

He clicked the laptop next to him and the screen changed.

Wendy wasn't taken aback by what she saw. She had seen her fair share of blood in the past to the point where looking at it left no feeling of discomfort inside her.

Displayed on the screen for everyone to see, were the bodies of 17 men. Some were without their genitalia, others had been cut up into tiny pieces and were then haphazardly placed back together, and a few were so unrecognizable that they almost didn't even look human.

Wendy could almost feel the atmosphere in the room change, but she still stared at the screen with the best poker face that she could muster. She made sure to study all the details, no matter how gruesome they seemed.

Wendy was going to solve this case.

 

* * *

 

The meeting came to an end after another hour, and Wendy was allowed to mingle a bit with the other team members. She hoped to steer clear of the two Chiefs for now, and focused her attention on the others. In particular, Wendy was most excited to meet the other blood spatter analyst.

Wendy made her way over to a random group of people and listened in on their conversation for a while.

"I'm just hoping we can actually solve this case." One of the men from the other precinct spoke up. Wendy wasn't sure what position he held.

"I know right. If no other precinct before us was able to find anything.. what makes them think we'll be able to?" A different voice spoke now and Wendy turned her head to see a woman with red hair, also from the Jongno precinct.

A few people nodded in agreement and Wendy frowned at the negativity. Yeah this case was a tricky one, but they had to have faith in their teammates. If they lost faith before they even started, then they really wouldn't solve the case.

Wendy wanted to voice her concerns to the group in hopes to bring up the morale, but before she could do, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned around and instantly regretted doing so.

"Wendy, can I speak with you privately." Chief Namjoon smiled down at her, and Wendy, keeping her poker face on, nodded before following behind him. He led her over to a different part of the conference room, a few spaces away from the bustle of people, before standing in front of her. Wendy knew what he was going to say, so she decided to get the first word in.

"Sir- I'm sorry I was late to the meeting." She started and instantly bent over in a bowing position. "It was irresponsible and unprofessional and I understand if you decide to kick me off of this-"

"Wendy, please." The Chief cut her off, "Stand up." he said, a bit firmer than before, and Wendy obeyed, straightening herself out.

"I'm not kicking you off the team." He sighed and Wendy looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"Sir?"

"You weren't that late anyways and even though you've only been working for me for a short while, I know this behavior was uncharacteristic. I know it won't happen again."

Wendy was relieved but she still remained straight as an arrow in front of her Chief.

The Chief was smiling again. "Now, tell me, what did you think of the meeting? Be honest. Was it informative? Was it confusing in any way? I'd like to know your thoughts in particular."

Wendy nodded and thought back on the presentation. "Well, I thought it was well constructed given the little information we have on the case, and I think the plan that we have set for going forward is alright too." She looked up at the Chief who was watching her with all his attention.

"Personally, I think we should start by asking around at the different locations where the men are being taken to see if there are any people of interest that frequent those establishments. I think this is a good start in trying to find a common suspect and potential killer." Wendy finished, not sure if she should continue on, and the Chief nodded before speaking.

"Yes, Chief Jisung and I have been working closely together for the past couple of days to come up with our plan of attack." The Chief looked away and Wendy watched as he spoke. "I'm thankful for your input," He motioned his hand at someone behind her but Wendy didn't turn her head to look. "And I would like to formally introduce you to the Jongo police station's Chief."

Wendy swallowed when she heard footsteps stop beside her.

"Wendy, this is Chief Jisung. Jisung, this is the girl that I was telling you about." Namjoon smiled and Wendy quickly bowed at the man before her.

"H-hello, sir." She stuttered, keeping her head down.

Instead of him answering her, Chief Namjoon was called over by one of her fellow precinct members and he quickly excused himself before leaving Chief Jisung and her alone.

It was silent for a few seconds and Wendy had a feeling that this guy didn't like her. Her feeling soon became true when the man spoke up.

"You were late." He said sharply, and Wendy slowly lifted her head up.

"Yes, sir. And I'm very so-"

"I don't want to hear a half assed apology from someone who clearly doesn't care about their job enough to show up to it." His voice was like venom and when Wendy looked into his eyes she felt a strange tightening feeling in her chest.

She hated confrontation.

"No, sir that's not-" She tried to say before she was cut off again.

"Silence. I don't need to hear any excuses." He took a step closer to her and Wendy looked around the room to see if anyone was watching. No one was, everyone was too busy chatting with their new teammates.

"I don't know why Namjoon speaks so highly of you." the man scoffed and Wendy was reminded of a certain detective. "You've left a bad impression of yourself in my eyes." He paused before studying her with his piercing gaze. "It will take a lot to change that impression."

Wendy could only nod, as she kept her emotions as still as possible. She had to show him that she was strong.

Chief Jisung looked her up and down before glaring and walking away.

Wendy released a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, as she quickly made her way out of the conference room. Her chest felt tight and she made her way straight to her office before closing the door quietly behind her.

 

* * *

 

 _Dammit_. This was not how she had wanted her meeting with the precincts to go. She had made one tiny mistake that ended up costing her her relationship with the other Chief.

The man had seemed dead set on disliking her, and now she was stuck trying to think of a way to prove herself right. "Dammit." She swore under her breath before she slid down the door was now on the floor.

She looked up and her eyes landed on that red lava lamp. The colored globs mixed together and bounced across the glass in a methodical movement. She sighed before standing up. Looking at that lamp always made her think about her mother, and Wendy wished that she could ask her what to do.

She sat down in her desk chair before reaching into her bag. She wrapped her fingers around her phone, and quickly pulled it out. She could always call her mother, though she never knew if she'd actually answer this time. However, when Wendy turned on her phone, she was greeted with the familiar texts from Bae Joohyun.

Wendy had forgotten about those and she smiled as she unlocked one of the texts.

 

 **Bae Joohyun** : Whenever you see these messages, you should call me!! I wanna get to know you better hehe~~

 

Wendy smiled as she began typing.

 

 **Wendy:** Hey there|

She paused and was glad that she could properly think out her response before sending it. In real life, she'd be forced to stutter her way through the conversation like a complete idiot.

She tried her message again.

 

 **Wendy:** Hey Coffee Shop Girl :-) I'd love to talk, but I'm at work so text me anything you wanna know instead

 

Wendy put her phone down, figuring it would take a while before she got a response, but she was shocked when her phone buzzed instantly with a new message.

 

 **Bae Joohyun:** Here's a question, what time should I pick you up for our second date? You know, the one that you promised to go on with me tomorrow?~~

 

Wendy's eye's widened as she read the words. _Date?_ She paused as she reread the words again just to make sure she'd read them correctly.

That's when everything came rushing back.

She'd left the coffee shop in such a hurry that she didn't even realize that she'd agreed to going on a date with Bae.

Wendy felt her cheeks get hot just at the thought.

Oh my God.. She shakily typed back a response.

 

 **Wendy:** Oh yeah of course that DATE haha yes very good indeed! Bae Joohyun!!! WELL ya see, the thing is, I kinda have this job thing going on tomorrow haha wow crazy!!! the boss wants me in fo|

Okay, Wendy didn't actually send that.

 

Her fingers were twitching too much and she quickly erased that mess of a text before trying again. Before she could, however, Bae sent another response.

 

 **Bae Joohyun:** And no trying to back out of it because of "work"! You promised meee~~~~

 

Wendy swallowed as she struggled to think of what to say. I mean, she thought Bae was extremely attractive and she did buy her a coffee the other night, plus she was friends with Seulgi, but, Wendy was way too awkward for a date.

She hadn't replied to her message yet so Wendy held her breath as she watched her fingers betray her and send this message.

 

 **Wendy:** Ok

 

She hastily threw her phone down on the table like it was a bomb about to explode, and she watched as her phone lit up again with a few more messages from Bae.

Wendy was a bit scared to look, but her curiosity got the better of her as she quickly picked up her phone and opened the messages.

 

 **Bae Joohyun:** Yay!!! Well, I'll pick you up after work and you can come over to my house!!!!~~~

 **Bae Joohyun:** Oh yeah, but I still don't know where you work lol. Tell me when and where and I'll be there!

 

Wendy blushed as she read the messages and she felt her stomach fill up with butterflies. This was really going to happen.. she was going to go to Bae Joohyun's house for a ... Oh my God.

Wendy was internally freaking out right now. She hadn't been on a date in so long. The last date that she'd even been on was with a man.. and that was a long, long time ago. Wendy wasn't even sure what to wear, or what to do, or how to even act on a date.

Her heart started to beat a bit faster just thinking about it, and she tried to calm down and type a response. There was no way Wendy would be able to back out of this, so she had to be strong. Just be strong.

She could do this. Everything would be fine. She would be calm and collected and professional... and fun! No matter how absolutely stunning and flirty Bae Joohyun was compared to herself, Wendy would try to make this the best date possible. If she can sucessfully do this, she can do anything.

Wendy was feeling more excited now as she smiled down at her phone.

 

 **Wendy:** Can't wait! I work at Seoul Police Station a few blocks away from that coffee shop that Seulgi works at. Pick me up around 8:00?

 

She put her phone down and sighed contently. She had expected an immediate response and was a bit puzzled what she didn't receive one. She didn't let it bother her too much, though, because she had to focus back on trying to prove herself to the other Chief.

Putting her phone back into her bag, Wendy turned on her computer and started to prepare for her plan.

Her plan for success.

She called it, 'How To Get The New Chief To Like Me: Part 1'


	11. irene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MATURE CONTENT (dismembered organs) // Irene pov

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can also follow/show support for this fic on my wattpad @ polychromaticc !! thanks

Irene was smiling down at her phone when she walked into the apartment.

"Welcome back~" Sooyoung's voice chirped up from the couch, and Irene simply waved. She was still preoccupied by her phone when she plopped down in the armchair across from her roommate. Irene smiled as she typed away, which caused Sooyoung to quirk an eyebrow at her friend.

"Texting someone fun?" She teased, now standing over Irene's shoulder, who jerked away at the new voice. Sooyoung laughed.

"Maybe." Irene hummed, looking up from her phone for the first time since walking in.

"What girl is it today, hmm?" Sooyoung asked knowingly, as she took her previous seat on the couch.

"Oh, the same." Irene said, and Sooyoung's friendly smile vanished.

"Wendy." She stated rather than asking, and Irene nodded.

Sooyoung looked away and was reminded of the girl from the other night. She had seemed nice enough, and Sooyoung had to admit that she did find the girl cute, but there was one detail about her that she just couldn't shake.

"Bae-," Sooyoung called to her friend, who interrupted her with sparkles in her eyes.

"I asked her out!~" She smiled, bigger than Sooyoung had seen in a while, which only made what Sooyoung had to tell her even harder.

"Yes well, Bae, there's something I-"

"I think it will be alright if she comes over here tomorrow, don't you? It would be fun for you all to meet, plus she already knows Seul." Irene rambled, eagerly awaiting a text back from Wendy.

"Bae. Listen to me first." Sooyoung said firmly, and Irene looked up at her with a sigh.

"Yes, Sooyoung what is it?" She said, putting her phone down on the table to look at her friend.

Sooyoung sighed, "There's something you should know about Wendy."

"Wendy? What about her?"

"She..." Sooyoung swallowed, trying to think of what to say. "She works for... them." She finished, watching Irene's eyes.

"Them..." Irene let the word fall from her mouth as she processed what Sooyoung was telling her. The playful smile that had been on her face since the moment that she'd walked in was now gone. "You don't mean-"

"Yes, I do. The police. Seulgi mentioned it at the cafe, but you were.. distracted." Sooyoung cut her off dishearteningly, and the room was silent for a few seconds.

Irene's phone buzzed on the coffee table.  
The room was heavy.

"You're lying." Irene's eyes were colder now, the spark from before had vanished completely.

"Bae, why would I lie about this." Sooyoung sighed and turned her head, unable to make eye contact with her friend at the moment.

Irene tried to form a sentence, but nothing would come out. Her thoughts were running rampant, but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions. Without a word, Irene quickly grabbed her phone from the coffee table and unlocked her newest message from Wendy.

Her heart dropped when she read the text.

Wendy~: I work at Seoul Police Station a few blocks away from that coffee shop that Seulgi works at.....

'Seoul.. Police Station'

Irene stopped reading and calmly placed her phone on the coffee table. She stood up, not turning to look back at Sooyoung, and started making her way to her room.

"Unnie.." Sooyoung started, before the apartment door swung open and in came Yerim and Seulgi.

"You can start the party now, I'm back!" Yerim cheered, not sensing the heavy atmosphere hanging over the room, and Irene stopped in her tracks.

Sooyoung watched her roommate worriedly, while Yerim just looked confused.

"What's going-"

"Is everything okay?" Seulgi cut her off and pushed past the younger girl to glance between Irene and Sooyoung.

Sooyoung opened her mouth, but Irene spoke first.

"Everything is great." She said, turning around with a smile, "I'm just going to my room is all." She stated and walked away before Sooyoung could say anything.

"Okay??" Yerim said, still unaware of any tension in the room, and made her way over to the kitchen in search of a snack.

Seulgi, on the other hand, was watching Sooyoung who looked a bit uncomfortable on the fluffy couch. When Seulgi shot her a questioning look, she simply shook her head as if to dispel any of Seulgi's worry, before whispering, "We'll talk about it later." and turned on the tv.

 

* * *

 

Irene closed the door behind her softly as she walked into her bedroom. The walls were a dark maroon color and the curtains were drawn open, displaying a stunning view of the city of Seoul. The sun was setting, and the sky was a bright pink color against the harsh gray buildings below.

Usually Irene would love to look out her window and admire the unnatural colors of the afternoon sky, but right now, she felt heavy and strange. A feeling that she hadn't felt in a while. It was almost the same feeling that she'd experienced earlier this morning when she was showering the blood of Oh Ha Joon off of her face.

Sighing, Irene drew the curtains closed and was enveloped in her comfortable darkness. She took a seat on the floor, using her bed frame for support, as she tried to make sense of everything that she'd just been told moments ago.

Wendy was really working for the police? Irene's absolute least favorite thing in the whole entire world. Well, her least favorite thing next to men, of course.

How was it that someone as adorable and kind as Wendy, was avidly working against her?

Irene put her head in her hands. She hated feeling this way. It was such a foreign concept to her, and she especially disliked the aching sensation in her chest that accompanied it. Finding out that the cutest girl that she'd ever seen was actually her enemy, made Irene physically hurt and she didn't know why. Maybe she truly had fallen in love with the girl from the coffee shop after such a short while. Maybe she was whipped the second that she chose to sit by her that night.

But none of that mattered now. Irene wouldn't be able to see Wendy ever again. She knew the old cliche, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." but she knew nothing good could come from fraternizing with someone from their side. There would be way too many chances for Irene to slip up, and Wendy might connect the dots about what she does as a 'hobby'. But by removing Wendy from her life all together, the odds drop in her favor.

Of course, everything is always easier said than done.

Irene looked down at the phone in her hand. She felt a bit silly that she already missed texting Wendy. Irene was never good at letting the things that she liked go.

She opened up the messages app on her phone, and wondered how she would ever be able to respond back. She had left the girl on 'read' for a good couple of minutes now, and she really had no idea what to write back. Would it be easier to just ignore her? No, Irene didn't possess that much willpower. She would just have to slowly drift away from Wendy. She would start by smiling less around her, and responding slower to her texts. It would be really hard at first, but with time, Irene would see that it's for the best.

But before any of that, Irene still had to cancel this date for tomorrow. It seemed kind of pathetic that she was the one who had planned the whole thing, and now she was the one flaking on it. But, she knew it was the best choice.

Though, was it also the right choice?

"Dammit, why is this so hard." Irene swore under her breath and lightly threw her phone on top of her bed. She'd figure that all out tomorrow. She could just text Wendy that she'd fallen asleep or something before she could respond.

Irene needed to think about something else right now. She needed to take her mind off of this whole situation for just a few minutes. That's when Irene thought of the most perfect thing to lift her spirits!

She turned around into a kneeling position so that she was facing the underside of her bed. With one hand, she lifted up the bed skirt, and fumbled her other hand around the darkness. Once her fingers grasped onto what she wanted, she then pulled the box out from under the bed, and situated herself so that she was now sitting behind it.

The trunk was large. It used to be smaller, but it had to grow over the years, since it contained her most favorite, and fastest growing, collection. To anyone else, this collection was certainly 'different' than collecting trading cards or cds. Irene's fascination was no such mundane thing as that.

She fastened her fingers around the brass locket, and pulled out the key that she kept hidden around her neck. In one swift motion, Irene placed it into the keyhole and unlocked it.

The first thing that hit her was the smell.

It was the type of smell that most people would find disgusting, like rotting flesh, but Irene had gotten used to it in time. She even considered it a good, almost refreshing smell at times like this.

Inside the box was Irene's guilty little pleasure.  
Her very own severed dick collection.~

The organs were all very special to Irene, ranging from different ages, races, and sizes. In a way, she considered them prizes for all of God's work that she was doing down on Earth. One dick at a time she was making men go extinct. At least, that's what she hoped would happen. Her collection was large, but not large enough, and Irene wondered if she'd ever be able to fulfill her goal.

She sighed as she looked down at her collection. Each one was labelled with the man's name, as well as the date of castration, so that she'd never forgot each and every one of her victims. Sometimes, though, Irene had to be quick with her killings, so she didn't always have the pleasure of harvesting their private parts. It sucked, but it happened more often than she liked to admit. Especially as of late. She frowned when she realized that she never got to keep Oh Ha Joon's dick. The empty space in the box was apparent now.

The organs were stacked on top of one another, laying flat on velvet lining to keep them organized. She wasn't really sure why she kept her victims parts hidden in a trunk under her bed, but they oddly brought her comfort in times when she felt down. Seeing them would bring her spirits up, and helped show her just how much she had accomplished without getting caught. Though, if her collection ever did end up in the wrong hands, the contents of the box would single-handedly have her convicted for enough murders to put her on death row.

And that was something that Irene would never let happen.

Thankfully, only two people knew about her collection, and she wholeheartedly trusted those people to keep her secret for life.

Sooyoung and Taeyeon.  
She could trust them.

Irene smiled down at her collection before closing it shut again. She didn't want them sitting in the air for too long. They tended to shrivel up in a way that Irene hated once they had been exposed to the air.

Once everything was secure and locked away under her bed again, she stood up. She wasn't sure what time it was, but a quick glance out of her window showed her that the sun had finally set. Irene felt better after her little trip down murder memory lane, and she no longer wished to be confided to her bedroom. She figured she'd head out to the living room and see if her roommates were still there.

She opened her door quietly and heard the soft buzz of the tv playing as soon as she stepped out. She could hear Yerim loudly yelling, possibly about the tv show that she was watching, and Irene assumed that the other two girls were sat on the couch somewhere too. She couldn't see them from where she was standing, but decided not to dwell around the corner any longer.

She stepped out into the open, acting as nonchalant as ever, and went into the kitchen for a snack. She wondered if Sooyoung or Seulgi had noticed her, her back was turned to them, and she wondered if Sooyoung had also told her other roommates about the whole 'Wendy situation'.

Irene quickly grabbed a random snack, which just so happened to be some chips, and made her way over to the couch, acting as normal as possible. Sooyoung and Seulgi watched as she sat down next to Yerim, who was adamantly watching the TV.

No one said anything for a while, and Irene could feel Sooyoung staring at her. She decided to break the silence at the commercial break.

"Wassup." She said, plainly, as she opened her bag of chips.

"Unnie," Seulgi spoke first, "Sooyoung told us about the 'Wendy thing'."

Irene quirked an eyebrow before biting into her chip. She wondered what exactly Sooyoung had shared with them, since telling them the truth wouldn't make sense.

Yerim spoke next. "Yep, with how her parents won't let her date or whatever. It's kinda dumb if you ask me. Isn't she an adult? Why can't she make her own choices?" She munched on her popcorn and Irene smiled at Sooyoung's dumb lie.

'So that's what she'd told them.'

"Exactly what I thought, Yerim." Sooyoung said before sharing a look with Irene.

"Well, what can I do then." Irene said, looking straight ahead.

"What do you mean?! There's so much you can do!" Yerim answered, adamantly.

"She's right! You can find a way around this, easy." Seulgi added, with fighting spirit, and Irene shook her head.

"Really, I can't, and it's fine." She said and glanced over at Sooyoung whose face looked conflicted.

Irene couldn't help but wonder why. There was no reason to be conflicted. Wendy was her enemy. She works for the police and there's no changing that fact. Irene could no longer associate herself with her.

"Well don't give up, unnie!" Seulgi looked at Irene with a smile, "Wendy is a really nice girl and if you really like her, then give it a shot! I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

Irene didn't realize how invested in the situation that her friends were. She couldn't help but smile at how much they cared.

Though two out of the three girls didn't know the true reason of why she couldn't date Wendy, she couldn't help but feel lucky to have such passionate people in her life. Their positivity almost made her want to believe their words.

Almost.

She sighed when she was brought back to the reality of it all.

"Thank you guys, really, but I don't think it'll ever work out between us..." She looked down at her chip bag, not feeling all that hungry anymore.

Sooyoung, who had been quiet for some time, finally spoke up. "Bae," she exhaled, "if you don't think dating will work out, I think it would be okay if you tried being friends first."

Irene was a bit taken aback at Sooyoung's sudden change of heart.

"Yeah, be friends!" Yerim smiled at her oldest roommate, who returned her affection with a playful push.

"I guess being friends would be okay.." Irene trailed off, thinking about how she could try and make their tightrope 'relationship' work.

"Yep, friends! I'm already friends with her, so it should be easy to introduce her to the rest of us. Though, she does tend to get a bit 'weird' around girls haha." Seulgi added as an afterthought.

"Ah, I don't know.." Irene started second guessing herself, before Sooyoung cut her off.

"We should still invite her over tomorrow! I told them how you planned that date for tomorrow, but it can just be a friend hangout instead." She smiled at Irene.

"Okay, okay fine. I won't cancel the 'date' then."

"Good!" Seulgi cheered and was soon hushed by Yerim when their tv show came back on.

 

* * *

 

When tomorrow came and Irene got ready for another day of work at the library, she finally opened up her messages from Wendy. The last text that she saw was the one about her job.

Even though she had spoken with the girls last night about how she should just take a chance and invite Wendy over as a friend, Irene was still feeling conflicted about it all. She zoomed in on the contact photo that she had set for Wendy. The picture was from when Wendy had fallen asleep at that cafe. She looked so pure and adorable, that it made Irene feel guilty. She didn't want to drag Wendy into her messed up world.

'I can't believe I'm about to do this..' she thought, before quickly typing a response back to Wendy.

 

 **Bae:**  Hey, about that date tomorrow, I actually can't make it. I'm sick.. Sorry.

Irene’s hand hovered over the send button for a few seconds as she contemplated what to do. She took too long decide, however, and her screen turned black due to inactivity. And with that, Irene promptly shoved her phone back into her bag, never hitting send.

Regardless of what her friends had told her last night, this was the right choice. 

They were just trying to be supportive, and Irene was appreciative of that, but she knew from the second that she'd found out where Wendy worked, that their relationship could never work out.

With a sigh, Irene pushed her hair out of her face, and headed out to the library for work.

Everything was going to be fine.

Right?


	12. wendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy! (also, if you want to show support on wattpad, my username is polychromaticc !! )

Weeks passed by without much of anything, and Wendy couldn't help but wonder what she had done wrong. Everything had changed when Bae Joohyun asked her out on a second date.

Thinking back on that night, Wendy couldn't deny that she was nervous. Their first "date" wasn't exactly a real date, so Wendy had no idea what Bae would have planned for this one.

She remembered texting Bae her place of work the night before, as well as what time to pick her up at, but she didn't receive a response back. What was most odd to Wendy, though, was that Bae had read the message only a few minutes after she'd sent it, but she didn't respond.

In the moment, Wendy didn't want to dwell on it too much. It was kind of late in the afternoon when they had exchanged texts, so it was understandable if Bae had simply fallen asleep or forgotten, so Wendy wasn't too worried. She even remembered leaving the office excited for her date tomorrow. She was equally nervous and anxious about it, but she wanted to take more risks in her life so why not start now.

She had even picked out a cute outfit for their date, and it was something that she'd never ever wear. It was a sparkly, navy blue long sleeve dress that fell just below her knees, and had a small bow tied up in the back. Purchasing the gown at the store the night before was a bit awkward, since it had been so long since she'd been on a date that she kind of forgot what she was suppose to wear. The lady at the shop assured her that it was perfect, but Wendy had a feeling that she'd only urged her to buy the dress because of the price tag. It was way more expensive than Wendy was hoping, but for Bae, it was worth it. She was blushing a bit on the walk home just thinking about it.

When the next day came around and Wendy had her dress pressed neatly into her bag for her quick change at work later, there was still no reply from Bae. She figured that maybe Bae was still asleep, so she shook her head and went on with work.

The day ended faster than Wendy had expected, and she waited a bit longer in her office with the door locked so that she could change into her date outfit without any of her coworkers seeing her. She would be so embarrassed if anyone saw her dressed like that.

When the coast was clear and most people had left for the night, Wendy snuck her way out of the office as face as possible, and was welcomed by the glowing moonlight above. She stood a few feet away from the office and pulled out her phone to see if Bae had texted her back, but still nothing. Wendy didn't want to lose hope, so she tried to keep her spirits up and assumed that maybe Bae's phone broke or something. If her phone was broken, it would make perfect sense that she didn't receive a text back.

Wendy put her phone down and rubbed it a bit between her hands nervously. She looked out across the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bae's car, but the roads were empty.

She sent Bae a bunch of texts saying "Where are you?" and "I'm waiting outside the office." and she even clarified the address again incase she'd forgotten. Wendy even tried to call her, but it only went to voicemail. After a few more minutes of waiting, she felt her stomach sink when she glanced at the time on her phone again and realized that she'd been stood up.

Bae wasn't coming.

Wendy's dress felt tighter as she took a deep breath and laughed at herself.

"I'm such a idiot."

She went home that night, alone and foolish.

 

* * *

 

_A few days later:_

 

It was cloudy out this morning.

Wendy was walking to work, as usual, her gown from a few nights ago hung limply in the back of her closet, already collecting dust. She was still feeling a bit down on herself for her fail of a date with Bae, and she felt stupid because she thought it could work about between her and someone as stunning and out of her league as Bae Joohyun.

The only thing that Wendy could do now was immerse herself in her work.

She walked into the office with a smile on her face as she tried to think of work and work alone. For the past few days she had been prepping for her latest assignment on the Pink Rabbit Case, so she was excited to start making some progress. Today was the day that the two Chiefs were going to group everyone into teams of three, and each team would be assigned to a different area of Korea to patrol and study for connections. Wendy was hoping she'd get paired with two people that she didn't know, because she'd rather not have to talk so much today. Even though she was trying to act fine, she still couldn't shake the churning feeling that hung in the pit of her stomach every time she thought about her.

Wendy put her bag in her office and made her way into the conference room to gather with the others. She had unintentionally gotten to work a few minutes earlier, but she'd rather be here than at home anyways. She figured she could just sit down and not have to talk to anyone before the Chiefs arrived.

She still needed to figure out a plan to get Chief Jisung to like her, and she was hoping today would be the today. She was going to solve this case and prove to him that she deserves to be here as much as anyone else.

As she was waiting, she began to shift through all of the new information about the case that she'd heard at the meeting a few days ago. She needed to:

 **1.** Find a connection between the locations where the victims are taken and where they are killed.  
**2.** See if the Rabbit kills in a specific place nearby.  
**3.** Ask a lot of questions and engage.

Wendy was too deep in thought to notice that a certain arrogant detective had just walked in.

She repeated the facts of the case in her head like a mantra. There are 17+ victims, each with a severed organ in the same area. The victims are all men... but before she could finish, she was interrupted by a voice.

"What are you even doing here? Stop trying to be a detective. I'm the one who's going to solve this case, not you."

Wendy looked up with a sigh. She really didn't want to deal with him today.

"I'm going to solve this case." Wendy replied, matter-of-factly, and the bad feeling in her stomach slowly returned.

"You make me laugh, lab rat. I'm the detective, you're just the science for hire. The only reason that Namjoon put you on this case was because he felt bad for you."

Wendy wanted to roll her eyes, but she remained silent.

"What's that? You have nothing to say? It's because you know I'm right, huh. Pathetic." Detective Lee laughed and walked away, taking a seat a few spaces behind her when he heard the conference room door open.

Wendy wanted to retort and say something sassy, but she just couldn't. Her stomach started to hurt again.

Soon the Chiefs walked in, Namjoon first, followed by Jisung, as they stood in the front of the room.

"Alright everyone," Chief Namjoon spoke up, and Wendy tried to clear her head. Work only, no distractions.

"Chief Jisung and I talked in my office already, and we've decided how we'd like to proceed with the teams."

Chief Jisung nodded. "That's right. Now listen up, because I'm only going to say this once."

"Team Number One will be, Detective Hani, Detective Minhyuk, and Mr. Yu. You three will be in charge of patrolling in Chuncheon."

"Team Number Two will be, Detective Young, Detective Jeon, and Ms. Jin. You three will patrol in Suwon."

"Team Three will be..." Chief Jisung continued, and Wendy only listened in until she heard her name mentioned.

"Team Seven will be Detective Kim, Detective Lee, and.. Wendy. You three will patrol in Incheon." Detective Jisung glanced over at Wendy when he finished, and Wendy nodded firmly.

Of course. God hates Wendy.

She didn't want to show it, but her spirits fell as soon as she realized that she was being teamed up with the last person in the world that she'd ever want to work with. Detective Lee Jong Suk.

She felt someone kick the back of her chair, and she didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.  
This was going to be a long week for Wendy.

"Alright, now get with your groups and I'll be passing around some materials that you can make use of when you get to your location." Chief Namjoon said.

Wendy sighed as she stood up, but she didn't want to show that she was annoyed, so she quickly straightened up and put on the best poker face that she could manage.

"Alright! Detective Lee and where's- oh come over here, Detective Kim!" Wendy waved with a smile as she greeted her other member.

"H-hello, Ms. Wendy and Mr. Lee." The timid Detective walked over and Wendy smiled. She was at least a bit thankful that her other teammate seemed nice. He looked like he was around her age, maybe even younger, and he had a very youthful looking face. He almost looked young enough to pass for a grade schooler.

Detective Lee stood up and shook hands with Detective Kim, not even making an attempt to acknowledge Wendy.

"Nice to meet you, Detective, you must be from the Jongno District."

The other detective nodded and Wendy tried her best to keep her smile as natural as possible. It was weird seeing Detective Lee being nice to someone, she honestly didn't think that was possible.

"Well, since I'm the oldest, and most experienced, I'll be the leader of the team, of course." Detective Lee boasted as he practically blocked Wendy out of the conversation.

Wendy wanted to say something, but again she just didn't have it in her to argue. She saw Detective Kim move to look at her, but Wendy simply smiled and waved as if she was fine with Detective Lee being "in charge."

Chief Namjoon soon walked over to hand the group their materials, and Detective Lee outstretched a hand to take them. Instead, the Chief handed the materials to the other detective, Detective Kim.

"Here you go, Detective Kim. From what Chief Jisung tells me, I assume you'll be the team leader for this group, correct?"

Wendy looked over at the timid detective, confused, and Detective Lee interrupted before the other could respond.

"Well actually, sir, I'm the team leader."

Chief Namjoon quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, that's odd. Detective Kim is far more experience than you Detective Lee, I think you can learn a lot from him as your leader." The Chief smiled kindly, but his voice was very authoritative.

Wendy smiled at Detective Lee's shocked expression.

"Excuse me, sir?" Detective Lee asked and Detective Kim pushed forward to take the materials from the Chief.

"Well, Detective Lee, I'm actually the most experienced here, hah. I've been a detective for.. 16 years now."

Wendy widened her eyes in shock.

Chief Namjoon noticed and laughed. "He doesn't look it, huh? I was shocked at first too, but Detective Kim here is 37 years old."

"No way.." Wendy whispered before pushing past Detective Lee, who still looked shocked and was staring Detective Kim up and down.

"Well, I'm looking forward to working with you, sir!" Wendy said and shook their team leader's hand politely. Chief Namjoon smiled before walking away.

"I-I'm excited to work with you too." Detective Kim smiled kindly.

Detective Lee, who finally snapped out of his shock, cleared his throat awkwardly, "Yes.. um sir, me too. I'm happy to work beside you."

Wendy smiled for real this time. She was happy to see Detective Lee reduced to such an embarrassing state. She was starting to like this Detective Kim guy more and more every second. Maybe working on this team wouldn't be too bad after all now that Detective Kim would be able to put Detective Lee in his place.

Or so she thought.  
Detective Lee's nice guy persona was only directed towards the team leader, not Wendy, and she soon found herself blocked out of the conversation once again.

"Detective Kim, sir, I'll carry those materials for you."

"Ah, thank you Detective Lee, but you can just call me Taehyung, you too Ms. Wendy." He said and leaned over to smile at Wendy who nodded and returned the smile.

"You can call me Wendy, Taehyung."

"Ok, Wendy. Well, now that we've all introduced ourselves, let's head over to Incheon then."

"Great idea, Taehyung sir." Detective Lee said and ran ahead to hold open the door for their team leader.

So he was gonna kiss Taehyung's ass all day, huh..great.. Wendy wanted to scoff at his childish behavior.

Taehyung thanked the detective for holding the door but as soon as Wendy tried to walk through, Detective Lee let the door fall closed.

"Oops, my bad." Detective Lee joked, and Wendy glared at him as he slid past her and ran to catch up to Taehyung.

Wendy sighed as she pulled open the door herself. There was no way she was letting Detective Lee solve this case.

 

* * *

 

Wendy strayed behind her group a bit and glanced out of the many windows that lined the office walls as she walked. It was still cloudy out, but Wendy noticed that the sun had started to peek out a bit through the thick gray clouds.

Maybe today would be a good day after all.

"Wendy?" Taehyung called from up ahead, and Wendy turned her head to see him holding the elevator door open for her.

"Oh, coming!" She called back and ran over to her teammates.

It was time to prove everyone wrong.  
She could do this.


	13. irene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for never uploading on here lol. I also upload this fic on my twitter (douxpink), my wattpad (polychromaticc), and asianfanfics (douxpink). thanks for all the support and kudos!!!

"BAE, OH MY GOD, GET UP AND QUIT MOPING!"

"YEAH, FOR REAL UNNIE IT'S BEEN DAYS!"

"YOU DON'T GET TO JUST LOCK YOURSELF UP IN YOUR ROOM BECAUSE YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE OUR AMAZING ADVICE!!!"

Irene pushed her face further into her pillow. Why couldn't her roommates just let her self-loathe and die in peace?

She sighed and sat up in her bed. They did have a point though, she really had been in her room for too long. The curtains that hung across her window were pulled shut, leaving her surrounded by total darkness. Irene honestly had trouble remembering the last time that she'd seen the sky.

The only times that she'd gotten up in the past few days was to go to the bathroom, or to ever so slightly open her door and grab whatever food her roommates left for her.

At least they cared enough to feed her in these trying times.

Irene fumbled around her bed side table until she found her lamp, and switched it on. She squinted a bit at the new light source, and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror positioned a few feet away at her vanity. To say the least, she looked gross. Her hair hadn't been washed in a while and she'd been wearing the same corny pajamas that she'd stolen from Seulgi a while ago that were covered in pictures of smiling bears. Each bear had a different inspirational saying in the space below it which made Irene want to roll her eyes.

Her roommate was such a child and she couldn't help but laugh at the fact that one of the bear's quotes was spelled wrong.  
'You can do anything as long as you trying!'

Irene wondered if Seulgi had even noticed the misspelling, but now that Irene had, it stuck out like a sore thumb every time she so happened to glance down at her pants. And speaking of Seulgi, Irene heard her roommates yelling at her again.

"UNNIE!!!" Seulgi's loud voice came from the crack underneath her bedroom door.

Yerim's voice came next, "I'm going to class unnie, don't you wanna say goodbye??" Yerim tried to sound as sweet as possible so she could guilt her older roommate into coming out.

Irene sighed as she straightened some tangled pieces of her hair out with her fingers. She did want to see her roommates again, and she really should go to work at least once this week.

"Agh fine..." She mumbled to herself as she walked closer to the door. She hated how her youngest roommates guilt trip worked on her, but she figured she could always just go out for a few minutes, hug Yerim goodbye, and then slink her way back into her blanket burrito. She could also just go to work tomorrow.

"Ah Unnie! I can see your feet from here!" Seulgi said, and quickly scurried up from off of the floor to wait for Irene's door to open.

Irene rolled her eyes at her childish roommates and put on a brave face. She unlocked her door and slowly put her hand on the door knob. She could hear her roommates whispering about her through the door, and Irene hesitated. Her hand was still resting on the metal handle, but she had yet to pull the door open.

"Why is she taking so long?" Yerim asked loudly and Sooyoung shushed her. "Well she is... and I do have to get to class soon..." Yerim mumbled.

Taking a deep breath, Irene finally pulled open the door and poked her head out first.

Besides how bright the hallway was compared to her bedroom, the first thing that Irene noticed was that all three of her roommates were standing a few steps away and staring at her with the dumbest smiles on their faces.

Irene blinked before stepping all the way out of the room.

No one said anything yet, and Irene pulled the door closed behind her before speaking up.

"W-wassup guys!" She said with a wave, not really sure what she should be saying in this situation.

"Unnie, it's so great to see you!" Seulgi cheered, ignoring Irene's awkward introduction, and ran up to hug her friend.

"Welcome back, unnie." Sooyoung smiled at Irene's expression as she was currently being suffocated by Seulgi's hug.

"Yep, real great seeing you unnie, but I really gotta blast soooo!!!" Yerim said as she quickly munched down the rest of a piece of toast, and ran over to high five Irene, who still looked kinda confused, and dashed over to the door.

"BYEEE!" She yelled and waved, before slamming the front door behind her.

"Oh I think I forgot something in my ro-" Irene started to turn around, still in Seulgi's tight embrace, a bit freaked out at how crazy her roommates were. Had it really been that long since she'd seen them that she'd forgotten how insane they were?

"Nope! You're not going in there ever again unnie!~" Sooyoung smiled with a devilish grin, causing Irene to just sigh and accept the fact that Seulgi was never going to let go of her. And that Sooyoung was going to watch her like a hawk until the end of time. She was at least a little bit thankful that Yerim wasn't as insane as her other two roommates. She was proud that the youngest was at least getting an education.

Irene tried to walk over to the living room area, but Seulgi was determined to not let her go, so they both shuffled their way towards the couch, still intertwined. Sooyoung clapped and skipped after them, happy to see her unnie after so long.

When they got to the couch, Irene tried to loosen Seulgi's grip but there was no change.

"I said I'm not letting you go, unnie." Her roommate whispered into her ear, and Irene wondered how she'd became the target of teasing all of a sudden. Somehow the roles had been reversed here.

"You guys are so dramatic.." Irene said and shook her head in defeat.

"Yep, but so are you Bae.~" Sooyoung smiled with a wink.

"What? How am I dramatic?" Irene asked and Seulgi's grip on her loosened significantly.

"Unnie are you seriously asking that question.." Seulgi deadpanned and Irene was thankful that she could properly breathe now. "You literally locked yourself in your room because you cancelled your date with one of the most amazing girls I've ever met you dumb dummy!"

Sooyoung laughed and nodded in agreement.

Irene pouted, not having a reason to argue.

She was then reminded of the whole situation with Wendy and she started to feel really bad. She had flat out ignored Wendy instead of trying to make it work like her roommates had suggested, all because she was scared of getting caught. If she could somehow just control her little "hobby" or stop doing it all together, then she could have a proper chance with Wendy. But, she'd never actually gone longer than a day or two without killing someone.

That's when Irene's eyes widened in realization.

"Hello?? Unnie??" Seulgi was tapping Irene's shoulder since she hadn't said anything in a while, and Irene quickly stood up.

"WHAT DAY IS IT?!" She yelled like a crazy person, and Sooyoung gave her a strange look before opening up the calendar on her phone.

"It's Thursday.. June 14th. Wh-"

"June 14th! It's June 14th Sooyoung!" Irene interrupted her and cheered. Her roommates, on the other hand, looked confused.

"What's so special about June 14th?" Sooyoung asked and Irene clapped as she mumbled to herself.

"This is good, this is progress!"

"Wait unnie aren't those my pajamas?" Seulgi asked instead, finally becoming aware of the fact the Irene was wearing her favorite bear pajamas.

"Wait, Bae, but why is June 14th so special?" Sooyoung pried again.

Irene looked at Sooyoung like it was obvious and happily filled in the gaps, "Because, that means it's the longest that I've gone without kill- I mean.. SHOWERING! It's officially the longest that I've gone without showering hahah!" Irene quickly adjusted, forgetting that Seulgi was present.

"Showering? What? Unnie that's gross.." Seulgi spoke up and began to feel bad for the bears on Irene's smelly pajamas.

Sooyoung's eyes widened, knowing what Irene was trying to say, and smiled.

"That's great unnie, but, that's because you've been in your room all this time."

"Yeah, but I usually have the constant urge to," She looked at Seulgi, "... shower, but not for the past few days. And even now! I don't have the urge to shower right now, Sooyoung!"

"Wait, really? This is good news, unnie, really. We should celebrate!" Sooyoung clapped and stood up to cheer with her happy roommate while Seulgi watched on, confused.

"Am I missing something here?" Seulgi asked from the couch and her roommates just continued cheering.

 

* * *

 

Seulgi left for work a few minutes later, and Sooyoung was left alone with Bae in the living room. The cheering that had gone on earlier had quitted down, and the two were able to talk more seriously now.

"It really is good progress, unnie." Sooyoung started and Irene nodded.

"I just hope it stays this way for a bit longer." Irene hummed as she stroked her finger across one of the bears on her pajamas. "Ah, that reminds me. I should probably take a shower.."

"Bae, before you do that, I wanna talk to you about something else."

"Sure, Sooyoung. What is it?" Irene asked, but she kind of had a feeling what Sooyoung was about to say.

"I really think you should try and make things work with Wendy."

Irene laughed dryly, "Hah, how did I know that you were going to say that."

"Look, Bae. I know that before I was on the same page as you. I thought it would be too risky considering your conflicting professions, but it doesn't mean you can't at least try. I mean just look at your pants, unnie! 'You can do anything as long as you trying!'"

Irene looked down at her pants and couldn't help but smile at the stupid, misspelled quote. The bear, and Sooyoung, both had a point though. What's the worst that could happen? Wendy finds outs that Irene is a serial killer and gets her arrested and then executed? Pssh that's nothing. Plus, that's just the worst case scenario. Maybe Wendy never does find out and together they quit their jobs and leave Korea to live a peaceful life, traveling the world together. Or, maybe Wendy does find out, but she's not scared and actually helps Irene kill people!

Irene had to shake her head at that last one. It seemed a little too impossible.

"Well, I should probably go freshen up and take a shower." She stood up, before turning towards her roommate, "But, Sooyoung, you're right. I wanna try and make thing work with Wendy again."

Sooyoung smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that!"

Irene nodded and turned to walk away, before Sooyoung spoke up again.

"Oh and Bae, I'm always right!~~" She added with a wink, and Irene rolled her eyes before making her way over to the bathroom to shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "showering" is code for "killing people", by the way lol


	14. irene / text intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a short little gc intermission to get the plot moving~

_Sooyoung added Seulgi to the group chat_

_Sooyoung added Yerim to the group chat_

_Sooyoung named the group 'Project WenBae <3'_  
  
 

**Sooyoung:**  Hey shishtars!!!

 

**Seulgi:**  omg a group chat!!!

 

**Yerim:**  wtf is this

 

**Sooyoung:** Hi how are you guys? cool! SO, Bae just got in the shower and-

 

**Seulgi:** THANK GOD!

 

**Yerim:**  ok???

 

**Sooyoung:**  ... omg shut up I'm trying to tell you something iMpOrTAnT !!!

 

**Seulgi:**  I'm at work but okay plz I'm so bored what is it??

 

**Sooyoung:**  I have a plan uwu

 

**Yerim:**  . don't say uwu ever again

 

**Yerim:**  but... a plan about what

 

**Seulgi:** uwu

 

**Sooyoung:** about this whole 'Wendy and Bae' thing obvi

 

**Seulgi:**  ooo fun ok! tell me, I'm in

 

**Sooyoung:**  okay soooo, we're gonna trick unnie into getting all dressed up to go to the "movies" with us

 

**Sooyoung:**  but  _really_ , Seul, you're gonna text Wendy and invite her over to the apartment tonight for a redo date with Bae! 

 

**Yerim:**  ..eh

 

**Seulgi:**  uhhh

 

**Sooyoung:**  omg what

 

**Sooyoung:** I thought you'd be into this

 

**Yerim:**  well,,, it's a fun ~ i d e a ~

 

**Seulgi:**  yeah Sooyoung.. what if Wendy is still pissed about last time and doesn't want to go? I haven't even seen her at the coffee shop in weeks...

 

**Sooyoung:**  that's why _you're_ going to persuade her, Seul

 

**Seulgi:**  h-how

 

**Sooyoung:**  omg isn't she your friend djdkcjdl 

 

**Sooyoung:**  just say that Bae apologizes and that she fucked up and really wants a second chance! it's so obvious that Bae was effected by this whole situation and you know that she still likes Wendy. 

 

**Yerim:** tru

 

**Sooyoung:**  SO, just explain everything to Wendy and tell her that you'll be there too if things are awkward! plus she can finally meet me and Yerm <3 <3

 

**Seulgi:** okayyy I guess I can try

 

**Yerim:** and if she seems reluctant, just tell her that we'll have food ;-)

 

**Sooyoung:**  ooh yeah..food

 

**Sooyoung:** I should probably find a recipe or something to cook...

 

**Seulgi:**  omg ok ok this is gonna be fun! but wait, what is Bae unnie gonna say when she sees you cooking ...

 

**Yerim:**  lmao yeah do you even know how to cook, Sooyoung?????

 

**Sooyoung:** shut up I do!

 

**Sooyoung:** and I'll just say that I'm making dinner for us so it'll be ready to eat when "the movie" is over?? idk

 

**Seulgi:**  lol that works but unnie, yerm is right.. like you never cook

 

**Seulgi:**  ever

 

**Sooyoung:** omg stop, how hard can it be seriously..

 

**Yerim:** don't worry! i believe in you, unnie~ ;-) <3

 

**Sooyoung:**  I can feel your sarcasm through this damn phone I swear..

 

**Seulgi:**  yeri, aren't you in class right now

 

**Yerim:**  ya what's your point? school is so boring and the professor isn't even looking anyways

 

**Yerim:**  and Seul, aren't  _you_  working right now

 

**Seulgi:**  ...

 

**Sooyoung:**  literally bye I just wanted to make this gc to tell you my plan i-

 

**Yerim:**  ok so what am I supposed to do then?

 

**Sooyoung:** you're going to distract Bae~

 

**Seulgi:**  ooo she'd be good at that

 

**Yerim:** you right

 

**Sooyoung:** basically, you're going to make sure that unnie doesn't get suspicous

 

**Sooyoung:**  just bring her into your room and help her get ready for "the movies" and idk don't let her leave???

 

**Yerim:**  got it boss

 

**Seulgi:** and I'll come home earlier to help you out too! I'll bring some coffee and pastries if you fail at cooking, Sooyoung~

 

**Sooyoung:** we won't need it, but fine!!

 

**Sooyoung:**  ok so you both know what you need to do right???

 

**Yerim:**  I said "got it boss" didn't i

 

**Seulgi:**  yep, text wendy and help cook! hehe

 

**Seulgi:** I'm excited for you all to meet Wendy!!! :D

 

**Sooyoung:**  lol I just hope she agrees to the date and Bae doesn't somehow fuck this up..

 

**Yerim:**  wig

 

**Sooyoung:**  ok Seulgi, so text Wendy as soon as you can ok?

 

**Seulgi:**  okey dokey

 

**Yerim:**  cool bye

 

**Sooyoung:**  Project Wenbae - here we goooooo!

 

**Seulgi:**  uwu !!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I know I always say this, but make sure to go show some love on my wattpad (polychromaticc) and asianfanfics (douxpink)


	15. wendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my longest chapter yet lol!!! make sure to also show some love on my wattpad @ polychromaticc!! THANK YOU<3<3

The sun was shining high in the sky when they finally stepped out of the car and into the fresh Incheon air.

They had been driving for a while and Wendy was glad to finally be able to stretch her legs. While in Incheon, the trio was assigned to survey the area, ask the locals if they've seen any suspicious activity lately, and to try and find a possible location as to where the Pink Rabbit might take care of their victims.

"So what's first boss?" Detective Lee spoke up first, turning his attention towards the groups team leader, who was unpacking materials out of the car.

"Well, Chief Namjoon gave us this map that charts our territory as well as the grounds that we need to cover while on this trip. For starters, I say we head over to the most popular street to survey and talk to as many people as possible."

"Good call, sir." Detective Lee praised, moving to take some of the equipment from Taehyung.

Taehyung glanced over at Wendy to gage her opinion, but she just smiled and nodded.

"Alright, well let's head over to the site then."

 

* * *

 

The walk wasn't too bad and Wendy allowed herself to enjoy the trip and look around at all the different shops and buildings that they passed by. Wendy had been to Incheon one other time in the past when she was dating this one guy a while ago. Looking back, Wendy wasn't the least bit attracted to him. In fact, Wendy even thought he was insanely boring at times such as on their date in Incheon. He had taken her to Ganghwa History Museum, but Wendy wasn't much of a fan of history in high school, so she just walked along the different attractions, wishing she could be doing something else. Her boyfriend at the time was in love with history and would always drag her around to all these different, and equally boring, museums. She was too nice to say that she hated spending time with him, but after their fifth museum date, she couldn't take it anymore and broke up with him right in front of the Goryeo Dynasty exhibit.

Wendy shook her head to rid away the tragic memories of her past dating life. Of course, she was single now and everything was okay.

The noise and buzzing of people chatting away filled Wendy's ears a few minutes later, signaling that they'd reached the heart of their destination. 

"Form a circle over here." Taehyung's friendly voice called from up ahead, and he waved at Wendy with the innocence of a school boy. Wendy was still shocked that Taehyung had such a  youthful face, regardless of his age.

"Okay, so statistically we'll cover more ground and talk to more people if we split up, so, Ms. Wendy, you should take the eastern area near the park, and Mr. Lee, you should take the northern area by the shopping district. As for me, I'll tackle both the western and southern areas."

"Yes, sir." Wendy nodded and took out her clipboard of questions to ask the pedestrians once she got over there.

"Amazing idea, sir, I'll do you proud." Detective Lee smirked, not giving up kissing Taehyung's ass every chance he got.

"Excellent. We'll meet back here at the center to divulge and share information. Work hard, team."

And with those parting words from their leader, Detective Lee charged ahead towards the shopping area, eager to please Taehyung and make Chief Namjoon proud.

Wendy gave a thumbs up to Taehyung, before waving goodbye and heading off towards the park.

Before she could get too far, though, Wendy's phone buzzed in her pocket and she moved over to the side of the street to check who had messaged her. She was unaware of how Taehyung had stopped to watch her from across the street.

She turned on her phone to see a text from her friend Seulgi and Wendy smiled as she unlocked it. It had been a while since she'd even talked to Seulgi after the whole 'Bae incident', so she was happy to get back in contact with her.

 

 

 **Seulgi:** Hey Wanda~ Long time no chat! <3

 

 **Wendy:** Hi Seulgi! And you're right, it has been too long.

 

 

Wendy continued to walk over towards the park as they exchanged texts back and forth. Taehyung also turned his attention elsewhere, and began to make his way south towards his investigation spot.

 

 

 **Seulgi:** I wish you'd come by the coffee shop more.

 

 **Seulgi:** You know I get lonely when my favorite customer isn't there.

 

 **Wendy:** Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I just haven't been in the mood for coffee lately hah.

 

 **Seulgi:** It's okay because you're going to make it all up to me tonight~~

 

 **Wendy:** Tonight? What do you mean?

 

 **Seulgi:** Well.... you remember Bae right :D

 

 **Wendy:** ..Maybe.

 

 **Seulgi:** Omg Wanda please don't be mad, BUT..

 

 **Seulgi:** You're going to have the best date ever at our place tonight with Bae unnie and you can't say no and you have to go!!!!

 

 **Seulgi:** Say you're excited!

 

 **Wendy:** .

 

Wendy stopped in her tracks as she re-read Seulgi's text in her head.

_'A date'._

_'Tonight'._

_'With Bae'._

Wendy took a deep breath and paused to sit down at one of the park benches, forgetting that she was suppose to be working. Her phone continued to buzz.

 

 

 **Seulgi:** Are you so excited that you're speechless!?

 

 **Seulgi:** Wendy?? H e l l o ? :-(

 

 **Seulgi:** Please let me explain everything and don't be mad, okay????~

 

 **Wendy:** .

 

 **Seulgi:** Omg stop sending periods and just listen to me first.

 

 **Seulgi:** Okay, so Bae unnie feels really bad about standing you up before and she wants to make it up to you tonight.

 

 **Seulgi:** S-she told me that she likes you and she was just... scared! 

**Seulgi:** Yeah, scared! 

 

 **Seulgi:** Because.. she's bad at relationships!!

 

 **Seulgi:**  And, even though she seems super dominant and is always in a constant state of flirting with girls.. uh what was I saying.. I MEAN uhh.. she cares about you a lot, I can tell!

 

 **Seulgi:** R-remember the first time that you guys met at the cafe? Well, she wouldn't stop talking about you to us afterwards.

 

 

Wendy felt her heart skip a beat as she continued reading the messages.

 

 

 **Seulgi:** And the second time at the cafe when you fell asleep.. well, she sat with you THE WHOLE TIME! She kept you company and looked after you even though you didn't notice, you dummy!

 

 **Seulgi:** Ah, Wendy please don't be mad at my stupid unnie.

 

 **Seulgi:** She can be so stupid at times and she feels like she has to do everything on her own and keep all these feelings and secrets bottled up, but she means well.  

 

 **Seulgi:** Trust me, Wendy. I've lived with her for too long not to pick up on these things but-

 

 **Seulgi:** Even though she's scared, she does want this relationship to work out

 

 **Seulgi:** So please give her another chance! 

 

 **Seulgi:** If not for her, at least do it for me, Wandaaa~~~

 

 **Seulgi:** Wendy.. are you still there?

 

 

Wendy sighed and couldn't stop a small smile from creeping its way on her face. Somehow Seulgi was convincing her to give Bae another chance. Of course being stood up had hurt, but Wendy had a feeling that Seulgi was right and Bae wouldn't do something like that again. Wendy looked down at her feet as she contemplated what to do. Seeing Bae those two times at the coffee shop had been good, and she was super nice every time that they spoke. 

Not to mention how pretty she was too. 

Wendy's cheeks flushed a bit when she just thought about her. I guess Wendy was never really 'over' Bae Joohyun even after _that_ night. She felt like an idiot blushing at her phone in the middle of a park. 

Wendy's phone buzzed again, and she was about to respond, when she realized one problem.

 

 

 **Seulgi:** Wendy :-( plz answer plz plz plz

 

 **Seulgi:** I'll give you free coffee forever if you answer!!!!

 

 **Wendy:** I...

 

 **Wendy:** I accept. Yes. My answer is yes. I want to give Bae another chance.

 

 **Wendy:** but-

 

 **Seulgi:** OMG YES THANK YOU WENDY OMG YAY YAYAYAYAYA THIS IS GOOD NEWS I DID IT I COMPLETED MY GOAL YES YES GOD BLESS YOU  <3 WAIT-

 

 **Seulgi:** what do you mean "but-"

 

 **Wendy:** I'm not in Seoul right now.

 

 **Seulgi:** WHAT

 

 **Seulgi:** NO WAHT DO YOU MEAN WENDY!!!??? ARE YOU IN CANADA??!!!??!

 

 **Wendy:** omg Seulgi, no, calm down.

 

 **Wendy:** I'm in Incheon.. For work.

 

 **Seulgi:** O-oh.

 

 **Seulgi:** Well that's a relief.. Incheon works.. it's still doable!

 

 **Seulgi:** How far away is Incheon to Seoul though? Please say 10 minutes.

 

 **Wendy:** No.. it's like a 45 minute drive.

 

 **Seulgi:** Okay.. well, what time do you get off work?

 

 **Wendy:** That's the only condition if I'm going to this date night. It's gonna have to be later at night than a 'normal' date.

 

 **Wendy:** Maybe like around nine o'clock-ish.

 

 **Seulgi:** NINE O'CLOC- I mean, that works.. we'll make it work hahah!!!

 

 **Wendy:** Seul, are you okay?

 

 **Seulgi:** YES! Everything is fine hahha nine works!!!

 

 **Wendy:** Okay.. Though I'm not one hundred percent sure how everything is gonna work out or how I'm gonna get there but, I'll do my best. I wouldn't want Bae to get her hopes up just for me to not show up, so I'll do everything I can.

 

 **Seulgi:** :-)

 

 **Wendy:** And, I also.. want to make this relationship work.

 

 **Seulgi:** :-D

 

 **Wendy:** lol

 

 **Wendy:** OMG 

 

 **Seulgi:** what?

 

 **Wendy:** I'M SUPPOSE TO BE QUESTIONING PEOPLE!! FUCK A BAG I GOTTA GO! TALK TO YOU LATER SEUMLGI BYE!!!!!

 

 **Seulgi:** Seumlgi?

 

Wendy quickly shut her phone off and stood up from the bench. She hid her phone away in her back pocket so it wouldn't be a distraction again. If there was one thing that Wendy hated the most, it was looking unprofessional. She had spent so long texting Seulgi, that she'd completely forgotten that she was suppose to be working. 

Wendy grabbed her clipboard tightly and bursted with newfound determination. She was going to gather as much information today as possible and then she'd be able to figure out the whole date situation later tonight. With a huff, Wendy made her way over to a group of people standing by the water fountain.

"Excuse me? H-hello, my name is Wendy and I work for a police agency located in Seoul. I was just wondering if-"

"Oh shit are we getting arrested right now!" One of the girls in the group interrupted her and Wendy was taken aback.

"Yo we didn't do nothing! I swear." Another boy said and started to back away, before Wendy waved her hands in a reassuring manner.

"Ah, no, my apologies. You're not being arrested hah, I just wanted to ask you a few questions in regards to a particular case that we're working on." 

"Oh... my bad." The boy answered, "Yeah, shoot. N-not literally don't shoot us! I mean-"

"What he's _trying_ to say is, sure, you can ask us anything, Officer." The girl interrupted and Wendy smiled and nodded.

 _'Officer, huh?'_ Wendy thought, feeling a bit happy that they thought she was an officer, she didn't correct them, though, and continued on.

"Excellent! So, first question, have you seen anyone creeping around lately maybe wearing, and I know it sounds a bit strange, a pink rabbit mask?"

"A pink rabbit mask?" The boy questioned and glanced to the girl who had the same confused look on her face. "Not that I know of."

"Okay, that's fine." Wendy scribbled a note down on her clipboard before proceeding. "Next question, do you know, or have you heard of, any men that have gone missing within the past couple of months?"

"Hmm, missing men.. Oh! Yes I have actually!" The girl answered and went to fetch something out of her bag.

"Here, I was given this flier a few days ago by some strange guy in a suit. I hope this is helpful."

Wendy took the flier and her eyes widened when she saw the familiar face of Oh Ha Joon, the same man from the flier that Wendy had been given a few weeks ago.

"Any good?" The girl asked and Wendy nodded.

"Y-yes this is good, thank you. Do you mind if I hang onto this?"

"No, it's all yours."

"Thank you, again, uh you're free to go."

"Oh, okay, well we're glad we could help!" The girl bowed and her and the boy started to walk away.

Wendy glanced back down at the flier and studied the man's face. Like the first time she'd seen the flier, she had no idea who the man was or if he was even related to the Pink Rabbit investigation, but she figured she'd keep the flier and bring it up to Taehyung later, just incase. 

Placing the flier behind the other stacks of paper in her clipboard, Wendy began to search for more people to question.

 

* * *

 

After a few more hours of asking the same questions to different people over and over again, Wendy glanced down at her watch. They had been outside investigating for hours and Wendy was wondering how long they'd keep this up. She hadn't found much information from the people here either, just some more fliers of men that had either been missing for months or even years. 

She didn't want to lose hope, though, so she continued to walk around in hopes of finding some type of abandoned warehouse or building that the Rabbit might use as a potential murder site. 

She walked down the street, holding her clipboard tight to her chest, as she admired the scenery and the people walking together arm and arm. She smiled when she saw a family of three holding hands with their daughter happily skipping along as she cheered about ice cream.

Looking back towards the buildings, Wendy stopped in front of an old warehouse that looked like it used to be bakery before it was run out of business. There was a large lock and chain blocking the front door, so Wendy opted to peeking in through the thick glass windows to see if there was anything going on inside. The windows were so fogged up that Wendy could barely make out what was inside but, to her, it just looked like a bunch of stray storage boxes and cobwebs.

She sighed and moved away from the window before scribbling down another note on her clipboard.

_Another dead end._

Wendy glanced up at the sky and noticed that the sun was getting ready to set behind the horizon. Had she really been out investigating for so long just to come up short? Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a detective after all. The only thing that she'd managed to 'discover' was the same flier that she'd already seen as well as some older ones. 

Feelings disheartened, she figured she'd just head back over to the place where Taehyung had told them to meet up earlier and wait to see if the others had any luck with their investigations.

She unconsciously kicked a stray pebble on the sidewalk as she went, not really looking forward to telling Taehyung how little information she found. Wendy shook her head as she tried not to think about that for now. Instead, she began to wonder how her date with Bae was going to happen. By the looks of it, it was nearing seven o'clock and she still had no idea how she was going to make it back to Seoul in time. Not to mention the fact that she'd barely eaten anything all day _and_ she still had to get ready and at least _try_ to look nice for her date in a few hours. 

Wendy honestly just wanted to get back to Seoul. She loved working, but today was kind of a bust and she'd rather not let this ruin her whole day.

When she finally arrived back to the spot that they started at, Taehyung and Detective Lee were nowhere in sight. 

 _'I guess I'm early?'_ Wendy thought as she took a seat on the sidewalk to wait for her fellow teammates. 

She was kind of praying that Taehyung would arrive first because she'd rather not spend any time alone with Detective Douche, and after a few more minutes of waiting, Wendy was at least a little grateful to see Taehyung and the Detective arriving at the same time.

She stood up from her spot on the ground and bowed to her team leader, before glancing over at Detective Lee. By the looks of them both, it didn't seem like they had found much information either, though Taehyung was kind of hard to read.

"It's great seeing everyone together again." Taehyung started with a smile. "Great work today, team."

"Ah, well, to be honest sir, I didn't find much information." Wendy answered shyly as she tried to avoid eye contact, though their team leader didn't seem the least bit fazed. 

Detective Lee's voice spoke up next, "As for me sir, I hate to agree with _Wendy_ , but I also had trouble finding much information in my investigation.." 

Wendy looked over, a bit shocked, but glad that she wasn't the only one feeling discouraged over their lack of progress.

"It's okay, team. Let's just do even better tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" Wendy and Detective Lee questioned at the same time and Taehyung let out a breathy laugh.

"Well, yes. Did you really think we'd travel all this way just for one day of investigating?"

Wendy nodded dumbly, even though it was a rhetorical question, and Taehyung continued.

"I booked us a hotel for the new couple of days." 

"A hotel?!" Wendy and the Detective spoke at the same time once again, and Wendy felt awkward about all the similarities between them right now. Taehyung, on the other hand, acted as if all of this was normal and simply nodded before beckoning them to follow him.

"The hotel is just a few blocks this way, so follow me. Once we get situated, I would love to hear a more in-depth version of your investigations today."

Wendy began to follow behind, soon becoming aware of how little she had prepared for this trip. She hadn't packed a change of clothes or anything, since no one had told her about the whole 'spending the night in Incheon' part of the investigation. To add to Wendy's list of worry, she still had to figure out a way to get to Seoul without her teammates noticing her absence. Maybe she could get out of telling Taehyung about her investigation and say that she was feeling sick and needed to turn in early. That would certainly buy her some time to freshen up and search for a bus ticket online that would take her all the way to Seoul before nine o'clock.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket as they continued to walk, Detective Lee had run up ahead to walk with Taehyung, while Wendy trailed behind them. She wondered if Seulgi, or even Bae herself, had sent her anything while she was working, but the lack of notifications proved otherwise.

 

* * *

 

They arrived at the hotel moments later, and Wendy couldn't help but notice how fancy it looked. Part of her wondered if the cost of staying here would be deducted from her next paycheck.

The trio walked up to the front desk, and the lady behind the counter greeted them kindly.

"Hello, and welcome to Grand Hyatt Incheon Hotel. Do you have a reservation with us today, sir?"

"Yes, 2 rooms under the name Kim Taehyung." Their team leader spoke gently, but with authority, as the woman scanned the computer in front of her for the reservation.

"Oh yes of course, sir. Both rooms have been cleaned and are awaiting your arrival. I'll just go ahead and grab those room keys for you, okay?"

"Sounds good." 

The woman walked over to the large wall of keys that were labelled by room number behind the desk, and Wendy stood in awe at how their precincts had planned all this without her knowing.

"And here you go sir, we hope you enjoy your stay with us."

"Thank you."

"T-thank you." Wendy chimed in towards the woman behind the desk, who simply smiled before greeting the next customer. 

The trio made their way over to the elevators, and Wendy stopped to admire the intricate designs that marked the walls of the hotel. Everything was a classy nude color accompanied with gold and black accents that framed every wall. The wallpaper twisted around in a pretty vine design and climbed up towards the high ceiling like kudzu.

Soon enough, the elevator doors swung open and Wendy stepped back to let its occupants exit before the group made their way on.

"Ah, Ms. Wendy, here is your room key." Taehyung nodded and handed her one of the keys.

"Thank you, sir." She replied, accepting the metal key gratefully.

"And Detective Lee, if it's okay with you, we'll be sharing a room."

"It would be my pleasure to dorm with you, sir."

The elevator doors opened once again when they reached the 10th floor, and the group piled out into the hallway to find their rooms.

"Conveniently, the two rooms are adjacent to one another so it will be easier to come and go when needed. Wendy, I'm hoping to talk to you first about your investigation."

Wendy didn't know what to say, so she just nodded and stared ahead as they made their way towards the rooms.

Once they arrived, Detective Lee opened the boys room and quickly entered to check the place out. But before Taehyung could follow behind, Wendy tapped him on the shoulder.

"Yes, Wendy? Is there a problem?"

"A-actually, sir," Wendy fumbled with her hands as she tried to hold eye contact with Taehyung, "I feel a bit under the weather and was just wondering if it would be alright if I turned in for the night..."

"Oh, that's too bad..Are you feeling okay? I can get you some medicine or something-"

"Ah no, no it's fine. I think sleep will be enough, hah." She looked away shyly, but Taehyung held a straight face.

"Alright, well I hope you feel better then. I hope we can discuss everything tomorrow as well."

"Y-yes, of course, sir." Wendy nodded and Taehyung simply turned around and made his way inside his room.

"Detective Lee, I guess I'm starting with you." Wendy heard Taehyung say, as the door closed behind him. 

She was standing alone in the hallway now and sighed in relief. She was glad that her little plan worked, though she did feel bad for lying to Taehyung. Shaking her head, she slid the room key into the handle and unlocked the door. The lights were off when she walked in, and she hadn't gotten a good look of the room through the boys door, so when she flicked the lights on, she was taken aback by how lavish everything looked. Right by the door was the bathroom, as well as a little hallway that led towards the main living area. Wendy closed the door behind her as she walked forward in awe. She'd never stayed at such a fancy looking hotel before, and as she walked further into the room, she saw a master bed adorned in a thick, black velvet comforter, as well as a large television and a few suave, white lounge chairs.

Wendy set her clipboard down on the glass desk next to the mini fridge, and made her way over to the large window at the end of the room. Pulling the curtains back, she was met with a view of the whole city as well as the stunning sunset that covered the sky in strips of pink, yellow, and orange. The view was so pretty that she almost forgot that she needed to get ready, so she quickly pried her eyes away from the sunset to freshen up as best as possible without a change of clothes or makeup. She figured she'd multi task, and took out her phone to search for a bus route that she could take from Incheon to Seoul so late at night.

Thankfully, she got lucky and found just one bus that would be stopping a short walk from the hotel so Wendy quickly fixed her bangs in the bathroom mirror and straightened herself out. Technically, she was suppose to be sleeping, so she had to be extra quiet when leaving her room. She took a deep breath and quietly pulled the door open, making sure to be weary of any potential creakiness.

Due to her skills as a forensics analyst as well as a 'part time detective', Wendy knew how to sneak around pretty well when she needed to.

She closed the door behind her, making sure to lock it, and quietly made her way towards the elevator. Once she was out of earshot of the rooms, she exhaled in relief and pressed the elevator button to leave.

Though sneaking around was scary, it was also kind of thrilling and Wendy felt the adrenaline of it all course through her as she pushed her way through the front doors of the hotel, and out into the cool, night air. 

The bus that she was meant to take would arrive around 7:50 pm, so she hurried her way through the bustle of people on the sidewalk towards the bus stop. 

 

* * *

 

She'd made it to the stop just in time, and quickly made her way onto the bus. She bowed towards the bus driver, who hadn't seemed to notice, and proceeded to make her way over to one of the window seats. Due to it being so late at night, there weren't a lot of other passengers, so finding a seat wasn't too hard.

Wendy sat down with a huff and glanced out the foggy bus window. She wiped her hand across the glass to get a better view of the street life, and watched as people passed by, some in a hurry, and others just enjoying a nighttime stroll. 

Wendy's mind wondered back to the date and she hoped that everything would be okay, even though she would be arriving so late. She also she still had to stop by her house to grab a change of clothes, but she figured that she'd just wear the same dress that she was going to wear last time, since Bae never got to see her in it. The work clothes that she was currently wearing would be no good, so she was kind of looking forward to getting all dolled up for once.

As the bus continued to drive on, Wendy figured she'd pull out her phone and text Bae that she was on her way. It was kind of odd how Seulgi had been the one to text Wendy instead of Bae, but maybe she wouldn't have answered the messages if she saw Bae was contacting her anyways. Maybe she was still a little mad at Bae, but for the most part, she just wanted answers from Bae herself. What Seulgi had told her on the phone was most likely true, but it would make her feel much better if she heard it from Bae.

Sighing, Wendy sent Bae a text.

 

 **Wendy:** Hey.

 

 **Wendy:** I'm on my way.

 

-


	16. irene and wendy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR ANY TYPOS!!! (I gave up on proof reading this chapter lol)  
> also go show some love on my wattpad as usual, it's @ polychromaticc !! okay ily sorry for such a long wait!  
> !!!THE DATE CHAPTER WILL BE SPLIT INTO TWO PARTS!!!

_PART ONE_

  
  
**Thursday, June 14th - 10:50 am // Irene, Sooyoung**

 

Irene stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. After speaking with Sooyoung and Seulgi in the living room earlier, she'd felt a lot better about her love life situation. She really had made progress, even though she hadn't left her room for a whole week, but she still felt her urge to kill diminishing. Of course, Irene would always have a hatred for men somewhere in her heart, she hoped that this was a sign that she could live a relatively normal life now.

 

In the past, Irene was consumed by her need to kill up to the point where she'd tackle two men at once and wouldn't even bother to clean up her messes. In the beginning, everything was almost like an instinct or that a higher power above told her that she  _had_  to kill. It was kind of like an itch that Irene couldn't scratch and it only kind of went away when she was happy and surrounded by the women that she loved. That's why she was more hopeful in trying to make things work out with Wendy one day. Irene honestly had no idea if Wendy still even liked her and, to be honest, she had no idea how she was going to patch things up. Instead of dealing with it today, Irene would save that conversation for another day when her need to kill was almost completely gone. It would be safer then.

 

Irene finished drying off her hair with one of the bathroom towels and made her way out into the living room. She figured she wasn't up for work today, and she doubted if her boss would even notice, or care, that she didn't show up. I mean, she worked at a library of all places and it was practically always empty because the Internet was kicking books out of business.

 

As she walked out, Sooyoung was on one of the couches on her phone, eagerly texting away.

 

"Who ya texting? A cute girl?~" Irene asked and peered her head towards Sooyoung's phone before she quickly snatched it away.

 

"Oh, no one special unnie. It's nothing  _you_  need to see anyways...yet."

 

"Yet?"

 

"So, unnie, wouldn't it be fun if we all went out to the movies together later tonight! Like a cute roommates night out!"

 

"Well, I guess, yeah, it sounds fun." Irene answered, a bit confused at Sooyoung's hyperactivity and sudden change of subject. It almost seemed like Sooyoung knew something that Irene didn't.

 

"Great! Well it's all planned and you, me, Yerm, and Seul are going to the _movies_  tonight!"

 

"Why did you say 'movies' like that.."

 

Sooyoung ignored her. "Bae, I really hope you appreciate everything we do for you."

 

"That was random.. but you know that I always do, Sooyoung."

 

Sooyoung smiled as her phone went off, signaling another incoming text.

 

"Oh, and unnie," Sooyoung spoke to Irene as she typed away like crazy on her phone. "I was thinking about making dinner early so it's ready once the movie is over."

 

"Okay.. I guess that makes sense." 

 

"Great! So if you could help me out and buy a few ingredients for me that would be awesome, unnie!!!"

 

"I mean, it's not like I have anything better to do so, sure."

 

Sooyoung gave a thumbs up, still looking down at her phone, and handed Irene a scribbled list of things to buy.

 

"When did you make th- whatever I'm just gonna go. You're acting so strange today, Sooyoung."

 

"I don't know what you mean, unnie? And have fun!" She winked and Irene just chose to ignore her roommates behavior and help her with the shopping list.  
  
 

* * *

**11:50 pm - At the Supermarket // Irene**

 

Thankfully the supermarket wasn't too crowded, since it was a business day and most people were working, so Irene didn't have too much trouble navigating her shopping cart around to find Sooyoung's list of dinner ingredients. The whole time, Irene was just hoping that she wouldn't run into any annoying men. It had been so long, that Irene wondered if she really  _would_  be able to control herself should a 'situation' arise. Choosing not to think about that possibility, Irene kept her eyes focused on the shelves of food in front of her. She just needed to find one last item before checking out.

 

The list that Sooyoung had given her was pretty elaborate. Much more elaborate than anything that they had eaten for dinner lately. They usually ate pretty cheap, like ordering food to the house or going out to the cafe for something savory and sweet, but they only ever prepared something big if it was for a birthday or something special. Irene racked her brain trying to think of any important events that might've come up without her knowing, but she couldn't think of anything. This puzzled Irene but she'd rather not question it.

 

She soon found the last item from the list and was eager to leave the store, still feeling confident in her ability to remain in control.

 

Once she'd made it to the check out, she was discouraged that the only cashier working was a man. It sucked, but if he didn't say or do anything bad, she could control herself. This would be Irene's first test to see if she really had started to change her mindset.

 

"Hello ma'am, thank you for shopping with us today. Did you find everything that you needed?" The cashier asked, and Irene nodded, focusing on unloading her cart.

 

He began to scan the items as she placed them on the counter, and Irene was just trying to go as fast as possible. So far she felt okay, maybe just a bit anxious, but it's not like she wanted to kill the boy in front of her. I guess that was still a good sign.

 

When all of the items were placed into their bags, the cashier spoke up again.

 

"Alright, well your total today is $45.28." He smiled kindly and Irene just nodded again and handed him the proper payment.

 

"Thank you, and would you also like the receipt in the bag, ma'am?"

 

Irene looked up, clenching her fist a bit at her side, as she spoke. "Ah.. y-yes... please."

 

"Okay, well there you go, have a great day!"

 

Irene was a bit shocked at how  _nice_  this guy actually was. Though part of her still thought that he was just being fake nice since he's required to be polite to the customers, Irene didn't feel bad after talking to him. Instead, she calmly grabbed her bags and exited the store, as in control as ever.

 

She exhaled as soon as she stepped outside, like she had been holding her breath during that whole interaction. It was strange and new to Irene, but that man didn't give her a malicious 'I want to kill you' vibe. It just felt.. normal.

 

Maybe she really could change after all.

 

* * *

**12:45 pm - Back At The Apartment // Sooyoung, Seulgi, Yerim**

 

Sooyoung opened the front door of the apartment to see her two partners in crime, Seulgi and Yerim.

 

"Surprise!!" Yerim yelled and Seulgi nudged her, wondering if they should keep it down.

 

"Damn how did you guys get here so fast?!" Sooyoung questioned, though still happy to have her friends to help her at home.

 

"School was boring today so I left." Yerim answered, as if it was obvious.

 

Seulgi nodded. "Yep, and I just told my boss that I wasn't feeling well and he let me leave! Lying to him felt kinda bad.. but I did it for  _love_!"

 

"Well, thank God you're here." Sooyoung smiled and allowed them inside.

 

"Where's Bae unnie anyways?" Yerim asked as she dropped off her book bag and plopped down on one of the armchairs.

 

"I sent her out to get some stuff for this dinner. Plus I needed to get her out of the house. She was being too nosy."

 

"DID SHE FIND OUT ANYTHING?!" Seulgi exclaimed, suddenly right in front of Sooyoung's face.

 

"No, dummy, of course not!" Sooyoung pushed her away, "I told her we were going to make dinner for after 'the movie.'"

 

Sooyoung changed the subject. "But wait, tell me how things went with Wendy. What did she say? Did she say yes?"

 

"Yep! I convinced her!"

 

"Yay! Good job Seul!" She cheered, "I honestly wasn't sure if you'd be able to do it.." She whispered a bit to Yerim who nodded in agreement.

 

"What! Of course I could do this! It was  _too_  easy to be honest." Seulgi pouted and Sooyoung laughed.

 

"Anyways, what are we suppose to do now?" Yerim chimed in from her spot on the couch, and Sooyoung turned before answering.

 

"Well, Bae will probably be back any minute, so once she's here, she's all yours to distract, Yerim." 

 

"That's going to be fun~ Well, fun for me." Yerim said with an evil look in her eye that sent a shiver down Seulgi's back.

 

"And Seulgi, you're going to.. help me with this dinner.."Sooyoung said, a bit dejectedly.

 

"Ha! So you realized that you  _did_  need my help after all.~" Seulgi teased.

 

"Shut up.." Sooyoung sighed, "Let's just get ready because Bae will be here any minu-."

 

And as if on cue, they heard the sound of the front door unlocking, so the girls quickly tried to look as casual as possible for when Irene walked through that door.  
  
 

* * *

**12:58 pm - Irene, Sooyoung, Seulgi, and Yerim's Apartment // Irene, Sooyoung, Seulgi, Yerim**

 

Irene placed her shopping bags on the ground as she took out her apartment key. She had to carry the heavy bags all across town, so she was glad to be able to place them down, if only for a few seconds. 

 

She placed the apartment key into the lock and started speaking before the door was even open all the way.

 

"Sooyoungieee why did you make me go out and get all this stu- what are you all doing here?" She stopped in her tracks as soon as she noticed that Yerim and Seulgi were standing right next to Sooyoung, all looking suspicious. 

 

Yerim spoked up first, "What do you mean? We're here for the da-"

 

"DAy of fun!" Sooyoung interjected before the youngest could ruin everything. "Our annual roommate day of fun, duh!" She nudged Yerim in her side to get her to shut up.

 

"Ow, Sooyoung! Geez,  _sorry_  I forgot that we weren't suppose to tell her about the-"

 

"AHHH! I mean, hah shut up Yeri!" Seulgi yelled and Irene just looked confused.

 

"Okay so let me get this straight. You three were all here at the house, and you made  _me_  go  _alone_ to the supermarket to get one million tons of food for our apparent ANNUAL 'roommate day of fun'?"

 

"Yes?" Sooyoung questioned, rather than stated.

 

Irene sighed at her dumb friends and turned around to grab the bags from the hallway.

 

"NO BAE, YOU CAN'T LEAVE!!!" Seulgi yelled, thinking that Irene was mad at them.

 

"Calm down, I'm not leaving! I'm just getting the stupid bags from the hallway. Why are you guys acting so fucking weird?" 

 

"O-oh ahah, that's fine unnie."

 

"Here, I'll help you, Bae." Sooyoung quickly added to break the intension, and ran over to take some of bags.

 

Once everything was placed on the kitchen counters and put away, Seulgi nudged Yerim to start her part of the plan.

 

"Hey unnie?~" Yerim sang, walking up to Irene.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"There's something super awesome that I want to show you in my room!"

 

Irene gave her a look before speaking, "Really? Something 'super awesome'.."

 

"Yes! You have to come see it right now, I promise you'll love it!"

 

"Ah fine, but Sooyoung, what time is the movie at anyways?"

 

"Oh don't worry about that we have plenty of time.~" She spoke calmly and Irene nodded before being dragged along by Yerim.

 

"This better be super and awesome, Yerim."

 

"Have some faith in me, unnie. When have I ever let you down?"

 

"Well.."

 

"DON'T ANSWER THAT."  
  
 

* * *

**1:20 pm - Yeri's Room // Irene, Yerim**

 

"Okay, unnie, sit on the bed and close your eyes. No peeking!"

 

"Ah okay okay."

 

"Good!"

 

Yerim honestly had no idea what the fuck she was suppose to do since there wasn't  _really_  a super awesome surprise for Bae in her room. Instead, Yerim just closed her bedroom door, making sure to lock it tight, and hid the key somewhere that Irene wouldn't be able to find it.

 

"Did you just lock the do-?" Irene spoked up and Yerim quickly interrupted her.

 

"I SAID NO QUESTIONS!"

 

"No you didn't.."

 

"Well I just did so, no questions!"

 

"Fine fine." 

 

Yerim stood still for a few seconds, trying to think of something to 'surprise' her unnie with just for fun. She settled on just grabbed one of her bras. She thought Irene would actually weirdly like that surprise.

 

She placed the bra into Irene's hand and took a few steps back. Irene looked confused, holding onto something with her eyes still closed. Yerim spoke before Irene could ask another question.

 

"You can open your eyes now.~"

 

"Finally-" Irene opened her eyes and stared down at Yerim's bra laying helplessly in her hands.

 

Yerim started laughing at how stupid the whole situation was and Irene just looked confused again.

 

"Wha- Why- okay??"

 

"AHAHAHH! That's was a good one right, unnie! I totally pranked you!"

 

"How is this a prank.."

 

Instead of replying, Yerim just turned towards the tv in her room and clicked her wii on.

 

"Wow great 'prank', Yeri but I'm leaving. Bye~~" Irene started as she jumped off of the bed and threw Yerim's bra at her.

 

"Hey!"

  

Irene placed her hand on the door handle and went to twist it open, but it didn't budge.

 

"Come play wii sports with me, unnie.~" Yerim patted the spot on the ground with her hand and Irene just focused on trying to get the door open.

 

"Why did you lock the door?"

 

"Look, unnie we can play bowling, how fun is that!"

 

"Stop ignoring me and tell me why you locked the door."

 

"Ooo and they have tennis, unnie come on!"

 

"Yerim." Irene spoke firmly and Yerim sighed before turning around.

 

"Look, Bae, you're trapped in my room until you come play wii sports with me. I'm sorry it had to be this way, but you're just going to have to accept it and come over here."

 

"I swear to God something is so fishy about this.."

 

"No, no, nothing like that is going on, unnie. I just.. want to spend some time with you, that's all."

 

Irene smiled, at Yerim's sincere confession, "Well then of course I'll come and play wii games with you." She happily made her way over to her youngest friend and plopped down on the ground next to her. She patted Yerim on the head who quickly tried to dodge the soft attack.

 

"It's not that deep but okay." Yerim replied and handed Irene a controller.  
  
 

* * *

**3:45 pm - Meanwhile in the living room // Sooyoung, Seulgi**

 

"I wonder what Yerim has unnie doing in there hah." Seulgi giggled, just thinking about all the torturous possibilities.

 

"Knowing Yeri, Bae is probably trying to claw her way out of that room."

 

Seulgi smiled before changing the subject. "Don't you think we should get started on the dinner early? We don't even know how long it's gonna take us and we have to at least finish cooking and setting up everything before nine o'clock."

 

"Yeah you're probably right.. I guess we can get started with this recipe I found online. It doesn't look that tricky so I think we'll be done extra early!"

 

"Ooh okay, I'm excited, lemme see!" Seulgi clapped and Sooyoung handed her the recipe as she stood up to go prepare the food.

 

"Ehh you think this is going to be easy, Sooyoung.."

 

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" She called from her place in the kitchen and Seulgi stood up from the couch.

 

"Well, this recipe is kinda.. strange."

 

"How so?"

 

"You, the most unskilled chef that I know, want to make 'Ginger Chicken Meatballs with Chinese Broccoli'.."

 

"Yeah I guess I do.~" Sooyoung hummed as she washed off the vegetables in the sink, clearly not feeling the same unease as Seulgi.

 

"Ah fine I guess you really will need my help if you want to pull this off.." Seulgi sighed and rolled up her sleeves to help Sooyoung.

  
 

* * *

**4:00pm - Back in Yeri's Room // Irene, Yerim**

 

"Yes I won again!" Irene cheered and pointed to the tv screen.

 

"Ah whatever.." Yerim mumbled as she went to change the screen so 'WINNER: ♡BAE♡' wasn't flashing in her face anymore.

 

Irene dropped her controller and stood up to stretch. She had spent a long time playing wii games with Yerim that she'd lost track of time. Yerim shut off the wii and jumped up onto her bed.

 

Irene turned to face her before asking, "So what movie are we even going to see anyway?"

 

Yerim looked confused for a second before answering. "Oh the movie uhh I think we're gonna see... that new movie that just came out called.." Yeri's eyes gazed the room as she tried to think of a fake movie name amongst her surroundings. "Uhh rug.. no.. a door.. i mean A-dorable... yeah Adorable... lamp? No fan! Adorable fan? Yeah that's the name of the movie. Adorable fan!" 

 

"Adorable fan? I've never heard of that.." 

 

"Ahaha yeah it like just came out." Yerim tried to sound as convincing as possible.

 

"Hm.. well what's it about?"

 

"Oh what's it about.. well, you see, Seulgi was the one who picked out the movie, so you should really ask her. Hah." Yerim fumbled and proceeded to find something else to keep her busy so that she wasn't just struggling trying to answer Irene's questions.

 

"Okay then I'll go ask Seulgi." Irene made her way over to the door, forgetting it was still locked and Yerim chose to just lay down on her bed and scroll through her phone.

 

"Yerim~, are you going to unlock the door?" Irene asked sweetly as she jiggled the doorknob with her hand.

 

"Nope!"

 

"Eh, what not?" 

 

"Because~~ I can't let you leave."

 

"..."

 

Yerim smiled and went back to her phone.

 

Irene, on the other hand, was trapped. She didn't know for how long, but she was trapped. She sighed and made her way over to Yerim's bed to sit next to her.

 

"And, just asking, why can't I leave?"

 

Yerim looked around the room and then held a finger up to her lips, "Shh, it's a secret."

 

Irene nudged her head playfully and mumbled, "Ah why is every teasing me now this feels so weird.."

 

"It's okay, unnie. It's for a good reason, at least, I hope it turns out good.."

 

"What are you talking about?"

 

"Ah, nothing." 

  
 

* * *

**4:50 pm - In the Kitchen // Sooyoung, Seulgi**

 

"Eh I don't think you're doing that right, Sooyoung."

 

"What do you mean! It looks great!" Sooyoung frantically stirred the pan around to get the meat to cook evenly. The stove top burner was on so high that bits of oil from the pan were spraying everywhere.

 

"Turn the heat down at least! Those meatballs look...weird." Seulgi bent over to adjust the heat and Sooyoung sighed in relief that the oil spray stopped.

 

"Here, how about I take over the stove and you work on cutting the vegetables." 

 

"Okay, but what do we do with the scallions again?"

 

"The what?"

 

"I don't know this thing says we need to add 4 scallions and I don't even know what that is!" Sooyoung searched through the ingredients trying to find the mysterious "scallions". 

 

"It's fine, just focus on chopping up the red peppers and broccoli for when we mix it with the other ingredients." Seulgi ordered, struggling to control her skillet of chicken, garlic, soy sauce, and ginger.

 

"Okay I think I chopped up the vegetables enough?" Sooyoung said and rushed over to see what Seulgi was doing.

 

"Good so I need your help now with this. The recipe says that we have to mold this substance into 1 inch diameter balls."

 

"That doesn't sound too hard!" Sooyoung cheered and grabbed some of the mixture to mold with her hands. Seulgi did the same.

 

"It's so sticky.. did we do something wrong?" Seulgi spoke up as she tried her best to form a sphere but the mixture wouldn't mold.

 

"Not sure. I thought we followed the recipe to a T, well, except for the scallion part.."

 

"I guess we just have to mold it harder- ah! No!" Seulgi squealed, having pushed to hard on the mixture that everything fell to the floor in a messy heap.

 

"Way to go, Seul!" Sooyoung chastised as if she was doing any better with her slimly mess of a 'meatball'.

 

"No! My little meatball died.." Seulgi kneeled down on the floor, poking the mixture that was spreading out across the floor rather than condensing. 

 

"Oh come on just clean it up and start over. I think we still have a lot of mixture left- OH MY GOD THE-THE PAN!" Sooyoung screamed and pointed to the pan that was left on and blazing in a hot orange fire atop the stove.

 

"OH MY GOD IT'S ON FIRE!" Seulgi yelled in panic and ran to the sink to get some water.  
  
 

* * *

**5:10 pm - Yeri's Room // Irene, Yerim**

 

"Did you hear that?" Irene asked over the loud music that Yerim had started playing only a few minutes ago.

 

"HEAR WHAT?" Yerim yelled over the music, not really paying attention.

 

"I thought I heard someone say 'fire'." 

 

"THAT WAS JUST THE SONG." Yerim yelled back in response though Irene could've sworn it sounded like Seulgi.

 

"Look at this picture unnie. It's totally Sooyoung!" Yerim laughed and held her phone up to Irene's face. Irene's eyes adjusted and she saw a picture of a really tall duck frolicking through a field of flowers.  
  
 

* * *

**5:16 pm - In the Kitchen // Sooyoung, Seulgi**

 

Sooyoung ran the other way to look for the fire extinguisher, but wasn't looking where she was going, and slipped on Seulgi's 'dead' meatball mixture that was still spilled all over the floor. This caused Sooyoung to drop her mixture on the floor too, and when Seulgi turned around from the sink with the bucket of water to throw at the fire, she tripped on Sooyoung and the water bucket flew towards the stove. Seulgi landed on Sooyoung with a thud and the water bucket splashed across the entire kitchen. 

 

"Ow ow ow! Get off of me, Seul!" Sooyoung cried from below her, both covered in a mess of the meatball mixture as well as water from the sink.

 

"Ow, sorry!" Seulgi apologized and quickly tried to stand up off of her friend, and reached over to turn the heat off of the stove. Thankfully the water from the bucket had also gotten onto the fire and allowed it to die down completely.

 

Seulgi sighed as she stood up and leaned against the counter top for support. She reached down to help Sooyoung up, who had been stuck on her back this whole time. 

 

"Ah ow, thanks..." Sooyoung said as she reached for Seulgi's outstretched hand.

 

Both girls were covered in food and water and the walls and floors of the kitchen were soaked in water.

 

"Well that was a total mess." Seulgi spoke up and carefully made her way over to the pan that had just caught on fire. She peered into the bowl, hoping that they could still salvage something, but everything had been charred to a crisp and was no longer edible.

 

"Dang it.." She spoke under her breath and slid on an oven mitt before carefully moving the pan into the sink to cool off.

 

"Ow my back hurts.." Sooyoung said as she made her way over to the kitchen table to sit down.

 

"Sorry I fell on you.. and for not cleaning up the meatball mess quick enough.. because of the fire I didn't have time.." Seulgi followed behind her roommate, feeling guilty.

 

"It's okay. It's not your fault, Seul. I probably shouldn't have tried to cook something so impossible."

 

The two sat in silence, feeling down about completely ruining the whole meal.

 

Seulgi spoke up a few minutes later. "You should sit while I clean this all up." She hummed and made her way to stand up before Sooyoung grabbed her arm. 

 

"No, I'm fine. I want to help." She smiled and Seulgi looked conflicted. 

 

"I don't think it's a good idea.. you got hurt and I-I don't want you to get hurt again.." She trailed off looking away from Sooyoung who smiled and kindly squeezed Seulgi's hand.

 

"Fine, I'll sit here and work on the decorations for the table while you clean up. 

 

But, Seul, smile for me, okay? I don't want you to feel bad about this. Everything is going to work out, I promise!"

 

Seulgi couldn't help but smile at her cheesy friend and gave a thumbs up before getting to work in cleaning the kitchen.

  
 

* * *

**6:30 pm - Yeri's room // Irene, Yerim**

 

"Unnie, come here. I'm gonna give you a makeover." Yerim said and patted the seat in front of her vanity.

 

Irene had been locked in Yerim's room for hours now and she had no idea what Sooyoung and Seulgi were even doing. Part of her started to think that they weren't even going to a movie today.

 

"Unnie~~ I said come here."

 

Irene stood up from the bed and made her way over to Yerim. "You want to give me a makeover? But aren't I already cute enough?~"

 

"No." Yerim replied, straightforwardly, as she cleaned off one of her makeup brushes.

 

"Ouch. You're so mean Yeri."  Irene pouted.

 

"Just sit down."

 

" _Well_ , since I seriously have no idea what's going on anymore, I might as well just go with it. Okay!" She smiled and sat down on the chair, sitting very close to Yerim.

 

Irene loved her roommates to bits, so she truly did like spending time with Yerim, it's just that being locked up in here was a little strange. Even though she had just purposely locked herself in her room not too long ago, she still felt weird not being able to come and go as she pleased. Regardless of that, she was still happy to be hanging out with Yerim so up close and personal.

 

"Okay now sit still because I'm and MUA and I only expect perfection."

 

"Oh yep, sure thing, MUA Yeri.~" Irene winked and Yerim hushed her before she started applying moisturizer all over her face.

 

"You like it rough I see, Yeri. Hehe I don't mind it either.~"

 

"Ah shut up and let me do my work, unnie."

 

Irene's teasing never worked on Yerim. 

  
 

* * *

**6:40 pm - In the Kitchen // Sooyoung, Seulgi**

 

"Ah finally! Everything is spotless, I'm sure of it now." Seulgi cheered as she threw away her last paper towel.

 

Sooyoung had also finished her part a few minutes earlier and the kitchen table was now set to perfection. The table itself was covered in a thick, maroon, table cloth and little tea candles were scattered throughout the centerpiece, glowing in the dim afternoon light. An arrangement of roses were placed in the middle of the table, surrounded by larger candles, and she had even made little name tags that sat on top of each dinner plate. The silverware was placed neatly next to each plate, and a bottle of wine sat in ice next to five sparkling wine glasses.

 

"Ooh woah the table looks so pretty, Sooyoungie!" Seulgi walked over, having been too busy cleaning to notice Sooyoung's hard work.

 

"Thanks, Seul. The kitchen looks great too, good job."

 

Seulgi smiled at the compliment and went to sit down at the table with Sooyoung before bringing up the elephant in the room. "What do you think we should do about the food situation?"

 

Sooyoung sighed. "Not sure. I was kind of hoping we would be able to pull off that meatball recipe."

 

"It's okay, at least we tried. We could just order take out or something, right?" Seulgi suggested.

 

"Yeah, true but I feel like it's just not as special as making it yourself. I'm meeting Wendy for the first time today and I want her to see how hard we- I mean 'Bae' worked on all this for her. At the end of the day, I really just want Bae to be happy and if Wendy makes her happy then it's all worth it to go the extra mile."

 

"Well when you put it that way.. ah dang it! I wish one of us was a chef or something! But, I also want Bae unnie to be happy, and I equally want Wendy to be happy. Knowing Wendy, she won't care if things are perfect or not. She's a super nice and genuine person she'd probably be happy just to meet you all and hang out for a while even if we just ate cereal haha." Seulgi smiled just thinking about it and how nervous Wendy would be tonight talking to so many girls at once.

 

"S-should we just serve cereal for dinner?" Sooyoung brought up half joking yet half seriously since their options were limited. 

 

"We really could ahah but we should probably get cleaned up first, huh. I still smell like mystery meatball goo." 

 

"Haha yeah I could go for a hot shower right now." Sooyoung replied and stood up with Seulgi.

 

"Does your back still hurt, Sooyoungie?"

 

"No, it's all better now. Let's go get ready.~"  
  
 

* * *

**7:43 pm - Yeri's Room // Irene, Yerim**

 

"Okay unnie, I think I've finished my masterpiece. Don't look yet!"

 

"Oo so I'm a masterpiece, huh?~" Irene teased and closed her eyes until Yerim told her otherwise.

 

"Yeah because I helped. Anyways, I'm going to count to three and then you can open your eyes!"

 

"Okay I'm ready." Irene said.

 

"One."

 

"Two."

 

"..."

 

"Three! Tad-a!"

 

Irene opened her eyes and looked into the mirror in awe. Yerim had given her a dark, and beautiful smokey eye, as well as winged eyeliner, and full lashes to complete the look. On her lips was a seductive cranberry red color topped with a shiny gloss and even her hair had been curled in fun, bouncy curls.

 

"Oh my gosh Yeri I look hot." Irene posed in the mirror shocked at the youngest's hidden makeup skills.

 

"Ah it's nothing." Yerim said, bashfully as she turned around to grab something from the closet. Irene was still glancing at herself in the mirror. She was honestly surprised and she'd never seen herself done up in such a way before. She liked it.

 

Yerim returned a few seconds later tugging along a zipped up clothing item on a hanger. She placed it on her bed and then called Irene over.

"What is that?"

 

"It's for you." Yerim smiled and unzipped the cloth bag to reveal a stunning matte black, sleeveless gown. 

 

"Wha- for me?" Irene questioned, shocked.

 

"Of course for you, silly! Now put it on and don't ask any questions."

 

"We aren't going to the movies, are we..?"

 

"I said no questions.~"

 

Yerim helped Irene slip into the gown, that fit perfectly in all the right places, and then zipped up the back. She turned Irene around to face herself in the mirror to see the final look.

 

"I-It's really pretty, Yerim, I'm just- I'm confused."

 

Yerim just smiled and went to get her dress from the closet. It wasn't as fancy as Irene's, but since she was still going to be part of this date, she had to look nice for their group dinner.

 

"Where are we going night, Yerim? What are we doing?"

 

Yerim ignored her questions again and slid on her gown before motioning for Irene to help her zip up her dress too.

 

At the same time, Irene's phone buzzed on the bed and she finished zipping up Yerim's dress before checking her phone.

 

**Thursday, 7:59 pm**

 

 **Wendy:**  Hey

 **Wendy:**  I'm on my way

 

Irene was too shocked to even respond.

 

"What.. what- WHAT IS THIS?! YERIM WHAT IS THIS? WHAT?!" Irene yelled, honestly freaking the fuck out. She was confused before, but now she was way past confused and just in a state of complete and utter panic.

 

Yerim laughed at her unnie's freak out and peered at her phone to see why she was acting so crazy. "Ah well it was suppose to be a surprise..Damn well I guess there's no point in keeping you locked up in here then.~" 

 

Yerim spoke calmly, almost with a hit of teasing excitement, and Irene just wanted answers. She skipped her way over towards the door and bent down to pick up her shoe. Hidden inside the sole, was the key to unlock the door. 

 

Irene was still internally, and externally, freaking out over these two text from Wendy on her phone. Once Yerim had the door opened, she pushed her way out first.

 

"EXPLAIN! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THIS?" Irene yelled, waving her phone around like crazy and Sooyoung and Seulgi turned around from where they were pleasantly chatting on the couch to stare at their unnie.

 

"Ah you look so pretty, unnie!" Seulgi complimented, ignoring Irene's question like Yerim had earlier.

 

"I agree! This is a good look for you, Bae. Good job Yeri.~" Sooyoung clapped and Irene was starting to lose her patience.

 

"EXPLAIN THIS GUYS PLEASE I'M FREAKING OUT!!"

 

Yerim spoke up from behind her, clearly amused. "Wendy texted her hahah."

 

"Oooh." They both said in unison, clearly not as shocked by the news as Irene expected and still not answering her question.

 

"What. Is. Happening. Why did Wendy text me that she's 'On her way.'" Irene made her way over to the couch still shaking her phone around, but the screen had turned black so no one could read the message anymore.

 

"Come sit next to me unnie and we'll explain everything." Seulgi smiled and patted the chair next to her calmly. Yerim also made her way over to sit next to Sooyoung.

 

Irene took a deep breath and calmed down enough to sit down with Seulgi.

 

Sooyoung spoke up first. "It's pretty simple to explain, unnie, just put two and two together.~ It's  _exactly_  what you think is happening." She spoke calmly and winked at her roommate who finally became aware of how nice everyone in the room was dressed. She also noticed the dim lighting that hang over the living room, as well as how decorated and clean the kitchen and dining table looked. It looked like someone was going to have a... a date.

 

And that's when everything clicked.

 

"Oh my God.." Irene whispered and Seulgi giggled at her silly unnie.

 

"Surprise!" Yerim yelled and Irene looked up nervous as fuck.

 

She stood up, suddenly feeling very unprepared. "You three.. you set me up on a date with... with Wendy.. today."

 

"Yep! You got it unnie, good job!" Yerim gave a thumb up and Sooyoung nudged her playfully.

 

Sooyoung spoke up again. "Look, Bae, this morning you were so excited about wanting to try again with Wendy, so we took it into our own hands and set everything up for you."

 

"Yeah, unnie, you can't be mad at us for doing this! Without us, Wendy probably wouldn't have agreed. Cough, cough, you're welcome." Seulgi smiled and walked over to hold Irene's hand and help her calm down and adjust to everything she was hearing.

 

"I know it's a lot, but everything will be okay! Wendy already agreed and she's gonna be here soon, so just be yourself and have fun!" Seulgi walked with Irene over to the couch and they sat down together again. 

 

Irene sighed before speaking. "Well I guess now is better than never.. I wish you could've told me sooner though. I feel super unprepared." 

 

Yerim spoke next. "Well we wanted it to be a surprise, plus we went through all this trouble to set it up  _for you_  so  _you_  wouldn't have to stress and worry about everything 'being perfect'."

 

"I'm thankful, of course, but, gosh you guys almost gave me a heart attack I swear.."

 

Sooyoung smiled, happy that Irene was starting to warm up to this whole idea. "Haha well just take this time to relax and prepare yourself. I know me and Yerim are both excited to meet Wendy tonight as well!"

 

Yerim nodded. "Yeah and we really need someone smart in the house for once." 

 

"Hey I'm smart!" Seulgi interjected and Yerim just had to laugh.

 

Irene changed the subject. "So, what are we having for this special dinner then? I know you made me go out and buy all those ingredients so what recipe was that for anyways?"

 

"See, about that..." Sooyoung trailed off, looking to Seulgi for assistance.

 

"Me and Sooyoungie kinda.. ruined that plan, but we have something better instead!"

 

Yerim deadpanned. "Of course you ruined the meal." 

 

"Hey I said we have something better planned!"

 

"Okay, well what is it then?" Yerim questioned and Seulgi turned to look at Sooyoung this time.

 

"Uh, well for dinner tonight we're going to dine on the decadent crunch and satisfyingly smooth texture of good ole cereal and milk haha!"

 

Yerim threw a pillow at Sooyoung's face.

 

"HEY CEREAL IS A GOOD DINNER YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE-"

 

"Enough!" Irene silenced them and made her way over to the kitchen.

 

"We seriously don't have anything to cook unnie.." Seulgi yelled from the couch and Irene sighed when she saw that Seulgi was right. They barely had anything substantial in their cabinets and Irene made a mental note to work harder at her job... which she just so happened to skip today.

 

"Well we can just order take out when Wendy gets here." Irene said as she made her way back out into the living area.

 

"Oh yeah, speaking of Wendy, I should probably text her the address incase she's close by."

 

"Good idea." Sooyoung commented and the girls figured they'd watch tv will they waited for their guest.

 

Irene was still a bit nervous, but she usually did great on dates, especially when they were with such beautiful women. The only issue was that Irene wasn't sure how Wendy felt about her. She had no idea if Wendy just said yes out of pity or because she 'just remain friends'. Irene could usually tell when a girl was into her, but with Wendy, it was different for some reason. Shaking her head, Irene tried to focus on the television.

 

* * *

**8:48 pm - Wendy's House // Wendy**

 

She had arrived back home a bit earlier than expected and quickly rummaged through her closet to find her dress. It was a little dusty when she pulled it out, but she just brushed off the dust and zipped open the bag. The dress looked as beautiful as it did when she'd bought it and even though it was a bit above her comfortable budget, it was truly worth it.

 

She was excited to get the dress on, though she did struggle a bit trying to zip up the back without anyones help. 

 

Wendy lived alone in her small one bedroom, one bath apartment, so she was excited to see Bae and all her roommates tonight and get the chance to talk to someone, aside from her work friends. Even though she had a lot of questions for Bae, she was still excited for the date. Though she'd never tell Bae, it was her first, well, second date with a woman, ever. It made Wendy a little giddy just thinking about it and she quickly rushed out of her apartment to head over to Bae's.

 

She normally walked everywhere, so the walk to Bae's apartment wasn't too bad for her, though this was the first time that she'd ever walked so far in heels. Wendy usually didn't dress up unless it was for an extra special occasion, and her job never called for her to wear heels all the time, so this was a new experience for Wendy. As she was walking, she tried to think of what she wanted to tell Bae when she arrived. Of course it was going to be a bit awkward because of how things went the last time they were suppose to have a date, and because Wendy was going to meet two of Bae's roommates, but she hoped she wouldn't get too nervous. Wendy was never the best at talking to girls, especially pretty ones, and when she'd seen Bae and all her roommates at the cafe that one time.. well, she just hoped that she wouldn't act too awkward in front of them.

 

Once Wendy saw the apartment building come into view, she quickly glanced at her watch and picked up the pace. Her heels made clanking sounds on the concrete as she ran towards the building. She didn't want to be too late because she already felt bad enough that the date was at such a strange time. 

 

It was almost nine o'clock when Wendy pushed through the front doors of the apartment complex, and she was thankful that Seulgi had texted her the address so she knew where to go right away.

 

Their apartment was on the fifth floor, and Wendy took the elevator to speed things up. No one else was inside, which she was grateful for, and she rode up the elevator quietly humming to the music as she went.

 

She hurried down the hallway until she found the right room number and paused in front of the door. She felt a bit awkward in her fancy outfit and high heels and suddenly the fabric started to feel itchy. She took a deep breath, figuring it was just her nerves, and adjusted her dress before hovering her hand over the door knocker. 

 

Here goes nothing.

 

* * *

**8:58 pm - Bae Joohyun's Apartment // Wendy, Irene, Seulgi, Sooyoung, Yerim**

 

They heard a knock on the door and everyone froze.

 

"Oh my god it's happening!" Yerim yelled, jokingly and Seulgi laughed as she ran towards the door, excited to see her friend after so long.

 

Irene was nervous but she followed along behind Seulgi and soon enough Sooyoung and Yerim were crowding around the door too.

 

"Agh give me some space guys geez I haven't even opened the door yet." Seulgi pushed the girls away a few feet before straightening herself out and opening the door.

 

Standing before them was Wendy dressed in a stunning, long sleeved blue sparkly gown that hugged her at every curve. The dress fell just below her knees, and had a small bow tied up in the back. Her hair was also tied up in a messy bun and her minimal makeup looked flawless on her clear skin.

 

Irene's mouth dropped and she felt her heartbeat sped up just by looking at her. Seulgi's voice cut through her state of awe.

 

"WENDY! It's so good to see you!" Seulgi yelled happily and hugged Wendy, practically pushing her back into the hallway from the force of the hug.

 

"Hahah it's good to see you too, Seul." Wendy laughed, her voice cut through Irene's head like butter. It was music to her ears.

 

Sooyoung watched Irene out of the corner of her eye and pushed her to move and greet Wendy.

 

"Come on in Wendy! I want you to meet everyone.~" Seulgi cheered and grabbed Wendy's hand before dragging her inside. 

 

Irene snapped out of her daze and instantly smiled when she made eye contact with Wendy.

 

"Of course you know, Bae.~" Seulgi pointed to the oldest and Wendy nodded with a smile before speaking up.

 

"Hello, Bae."

 

"Wendy," Irene started, and walked forward so that they were closer to one another, "I know it's no excuse, but I wanted to apologize for standing you up last time. If we can talk about it later tonight, I can try and explain myself."

 

"O-okay." Wendy stuttered at the close contact and she noticed how beautiful Irene looked tonight. Her hair looked so soft and her eyes were piercing. Not to mention the dress that she was wearing looked so beautiful on her frame.

 

"Great.~" Irene smiled and took a step back so that Wendy could breathe and meet the other two roommates.

 

"Hi Wendy, my name is Yerim but you can call me Yeri if you want." Yerim smiled, and outstretched her hand for Wendy to take.

 

"It's nice to meet you Yeri. I-I really like your dress." Wendy smiled and motioned to her purple dress.

 

"Thanks!"

 

Before Wendy could respond, Sooyoung, who was impatiently waiting, spoke up. 

 

"My turn my turn! Hello Wendy! Wow you really are so pretty I can see why Bae likes you! My name is Sooyoung and on behalf of Bae, I'm sorry that my unnie can be so stupid! But, if you give her a chance, I promise that she-"

 

Irene cut her off before she could ramble any further, "Hahaha that's enough Sooyoung! Sorry about that, she just talks so so much!"

 

Wendy smiled and laughed at their close friendship. "Thank you, Sooyoung. It was great meeting you."

 

Seulgi, who was still holding Wendy's hand, squeezed it happily and spoke up. "Isn't Wendy great guys! She's so polite and cute I just wanna squeeze her!!"

 

"Seul, stop hah." Wendy blushed at the compliment and Irene felt a bit jealous that she wasn't the one holding Wendy's hand.

 

-

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally created on my twitter, @ douxpink! Thank you for reading~


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